For those of you that love progressive metal, this is the
thing for you. This appropriately-named band is one of the best new progressive
metal bands I’ve heard since Mutiny Within. I’m not saying this band is
flawless, because it’s impossible to be experimental and progressive and not
make some sucky decisions. I received a promo copy of this album months ago.
The reason why I waited so long to write the damn review was because this album
took so long to fully comprehend and understand. There’s a lot of stuff about
this album that I can’t seem to get. Unless I interview the band, I’ll probably
never know why the hell this band chose to combine some of the genres they did.
I can’t give you an overall summary of the sound this album puts out because it
doesn’t just give off one sound, it gives off…I don’t even know, I can’t think
of how to put it, just read on.
As few of you already know, I listen to a lot of the
mainstream metal stuff like Korn, Godsmack, Breaking Benjamin, etc. In the
first song, after the 40-second intro made up of a single high-pitched guitar
harmonic, the first word that came to my mind was “Korn”. I’m not kidding, Korn
has been one of my favorite bands since I was 13 years old, and never in my
days have I heard an underground metal band use Korn’s crunchy sound as an
influence. I’m not saying that’s bad at all (and I might be wrong about the
whole Korn influence thing all together), but that’s not something I was
expecting at all. I guess I judged them too much when I saw their name; expecting
them to sound more like Iwrestledabearonce or Dir en Grey.
That’s not to say that Random wasn’t a good name to put on
top of their music, because every single track is something completely
different. Of course, they successfully stick to a signature, recognizable
sound that they use as a blueprint for all the songs on the record. But other
than that thin layer that every song shares, each track is its own type of
cake, each with its own type of frosting.
The vocalist is fucking weird; that’s all I can think of to
say about him. He’s not bad at all, he’s just really weird and has one of the
most unique voices I’ve ever heard in the progressive metal area. I have no
idea what the hell is going on in the drummer’s head because he seems to be in
a different world; but at the same time he is a major contributor and perfect
addition to this album. The lead guitarist does some crazy shredding that seems
to instantly switch into a David Gilmour sound therefore earning my applause.
Random is one of those examples of a band where when you look at each
individual member, you think “Where the hell did this guy leave his brain? He’s
completely lost!” But when you put them together, it sounds amazing!
The second song has a little more of an industrial-sounding
twist to it. I guess you could describe it as being a combination of Sevendust,
Korn, and Marilyn Manson (all of which I love). Not only that, this song is
extremely abstract (which is stupid for me to say because isn’t the whole
album??). For the rest of the album you hear stuff sounding like Meshuggah,
Hypocrisy, Mushroomhead, Kreator, Opeth, Primus, Soundgarden, Mudvayne, and
Hellyeah. Overall, this isn’t an album I would recommend to people that have a
hard time keeping up with really diverse music. The reason why I’m saying that
is because there are only half a dozen other examples of so many different
types of music compressed into one album; it was even too much for me at first!
But other than that, I would highly recommend that you support this band and
get this album because it’s truly a one-of-a kind experience. I would give this
record 15/20.
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