Mother NightHoly shit what a horrible name for an album. The image of Metallica's Some Kind of Monster keeps creeping into my head. The band name isn't so great either but it's sure better than the album title. Just terrible. Now that I got that out of my system, this five piece comes to us from Brunswick, NJ. They have been around four years and have released a few demos and a self released 7".
Musically they are influenced by some quality bands; Deadguy, 108, Unbroken and the good shit that was coming out in the mid 90's. I'll give it up to these guys, while they maintain the hardcore foundation they do their own thing. There are 13 tracks in all that run anywhere from 1:30 to 3:30. The songs maintain a sense of urgency and melody while still remaining heavy with vocals that demand your attention. These guys know just how to slow it up here and there with a rocked out chorus, especially in the song "Dragging You Down With Me". The guy's voice is strong and he does a great job of combining urgent yelling while remaining completely decipherable.
Very good lyrics that mainly deal with introspective thoughts. Things like being anxious, trying to find your identity, etc,. The lyrics are intelligent, even though at times they seem to try too hard to use words from the thesaurus to sound more intelligent but I'll take that any day over drivel.
Never heard of the studio these guys recorded at but that doesn't really matter because this shit sounds awesome. The whole mix seems to have the slightest reverb that creates a nice atmosphere. The guitar is thick and boisterous; the bass tone is thick and meaty; the drums sound awesome; the vocals sound awesome, nice slight use of reverb, good placement.
Even though the band's name isn't on the front cover it's actually pretty cool and looks like something that would be on a stoner rock album. It's actually an artsy looking drawing that was done by a tattoo artist. It centers around a skull that has a fetus growing in the cranium. Sitting atop the skull is a four headed bird with the tubes of a heart wrapping around. Lot's of good color use throughout. The booklet is simple, displaying the lyrics over a black background with the same heart On the back of the booklet there are black and white pictures of each band member. Pretty good stuff.
Rating: 4/5
Songs Worthy of Replay: White Noise, Manifest Destiny and Dragging You Down With Me
Synopsis: If you're like me, and enjoy bands like the ones I mentioned in the opening you will dig this. Check their myspace out to sample the album: myspace.com/mothernight