The Love And Terror Cult
Self-Titled
Self-Released

According to The Love And Terror Cult’s press release, they have a simple objective…”to make obnoxious sound good”. Apparently it’s not a simple as they may think because they fail to accomplish said objective on this self-released CD. In actuality, I found this CD to be like a ‘Suicide Fountain Drink’. Those around my age, know what I’m talking about. When I was growing up, every time you were at the skating rink or at a convenience store, the cool thing to do was to mix a little of every soda flavor from the fountain into one drink. No matter what ratio of each soda you chose to mix, it was never really as good as just pouring a whole cup of cola or root beer.

The Love And Terror Cult remind me of that. Taking numerous “flavors” and mixing them, yet never living up to the individual tastes used as ingredients. Taking equal parts metalcore (early Converge), math-metal (The Dillinger Escape Plan) and art-punk (Yeah Yeah Yeahs) and blending them into a boring mix of obnoxious noise. The only moments of these songs that are bearable are when the vocals are (kind-of) sung and not growled or screeched. Vocalist Justine Smith actually sounds eerily similar to the Yeah Yeah Yeahs Karen O.

Rating: 1.5/5
Songs Worthy of Replay: “Hal Johnson & Joanne McLeod” & “Madonna-Boy”
Synopsis: This is definitely not a band I will keep track of, however, I want to point out that I am not particularly a big fan of the three genres of music that this band incorporates into their music. I do listen to some metalcore and enjoy the Yeah Yeah Yeahs, but it pretty much ends there. Therefore, I may not be the best judge of this band. If you’re into any of the bands I mentioned in the review, it wouldn’t hurt to at least check out this Canadian band’s myspace profile.