- Apr 5, 2003
- 2,668
- 2
- 38
Balboa - Nitromegaprayer (Split)
Forge Again Records - FAR020 - 2006
By Brandon Strader
Here we have a split CD between two very different types of bands: Balboa. a whiney liberal hardcore group from Philadelphia, and Nitromegaprayer, a Japanese group that often crosses genre borders rather than claiming to be a certain genre. A few things can be certain here... One, groups that are so drastically different probably shouldn't be featured together on a split CD. Two, politics should never enter music unless in a small way, not completely using politics as a tool such as Balboa has done. Yes, we're all pissed off about the Iraq war and people are treated wrongly all the time.. do you really think a group making mediocre filthcore will change anything? Nay, there's more of a chance of groups like these making it worse. I'd hate to come across a bum in the street listening to Balboa and yelling at me for the state of the world - hey, I'm unemployed and I'm lucky I have a roof over my head and I didn't put you where you are and I can't help you, so go away and sell that Balboa CD for a couple bucks and buy some cheeseburgers on the dollar menu. Third, and I will state this prior to hearing the Nitromegaprayer portion of the disc, Japanese groups are usually good. Whether Nitromegaprayer lives up to the stereotype or not will be clarified by the end of this review.
Balboa uses some unique distorted chords in their music whilst their vocalist utterly smothers it completely with his unintelligable yells. For hardcore, the music isn't very exciting and seems to drag on for a while despite the very short length of each portion of the Split. The guitarists have some talent, and the bass is so downtuned you can barely make out what note it is playing! Note to the group: If you want to use bass in your group, maybe make it audible and decently tuned? Otherwise you might as well record a distorted fart into your music, and get a similar result. Even though the lyrics and concepts of Balboa dwell mainly on annoying "state-of-the-world" topics, you won't be able to tell unless you read the lyrics. The vocalist literally sounds like he is barfing up a huge hairball or something. Maybe this is deliberate as to somewhat hide the fact that they're writing about this stuff and not completely turn everyone off, or maybe the guy just sucks. I'd say the latter is more likely. Although the music of Balboa is fairly slow-paced, they bust out some decent melodies here and there, and manage to actually display a somewhat grimmer sound than your everyday hardcore act. There are only four songs by Balboa at the beginning of this Split, and none of them have managed to make a lasting impression on this reviewer. Songs like 'Rotgut' show some potential, but in the end it just sounds like pretty uninspired material with annoying vocals.
Nitromegaprayer starts out very strong on their part of the disc with some electronic sounds, ambient background screams, and funky grooves. The grooviness of this introduction lasts for over a minute though, and leaves you in confusion, "Is this ever going to change?". Eventually it does, and the screams that sounded so full of agony when reverberated in the background are now out front, and sound overly corny. Imagine a female version of the cookie monster with a high-pitched voice trying to sound low and you know how it sounds. It sounds like Big Bird sometimes too, especially when she begins chirping faster during the chorus. It's sad to see two decent musicial groups torn down by horrible vocalists...
Nitromegaprayer's music is very intense, and builds up to quite a great climax smothered with distorted growls and the same Big Bird screaming as well. The percussion here is a lot better than their Split partners, Balboa. The first track by Nitromegaprayer features some great jazz percussion work. The second song, however, is either programmed in a computer or is using triggers with these electronic drum sounds. It actually created a great soundscape, a very beautiful composition - almost ambient in a way, but it is completely ruined when - you guessed it - this celestial music is penetrated horribly by the vocalist's reverb-smothered-cookie-monster-big-bird-crap vocals. Actually I just heard a scream coming from the living room TV that sounded better than this woman's screams. I could have performed better screams with my anus. It's a sad day when such fantastic Japanese music is soiled in such a way.
In conclusion, I'd have to say Nitromegaprayer is worth checking out, even with the horrible vocalist, as the music is very good. Balboa on the other hand is a group you could skip unless you really like their brand of crudcore. The major faults of these two groups are the vocalists, how could probably easily be exchanged for a more capable and talented person. Or, perhaps if they purposely chose this sound, perhaps they could stop? There's nothing with a good old fashioned scream or growl, and sure you can put your own style into it and make it unique, but this is just incredibly stupid. Friends have described the vocalist for Nitromegaprayer as "a very pissy, opinionated rooster". Friends did not find the vocalist for Balboa worthy of a witty phrase.
Balboa: 3/10
Nitromegaprayer: 5/10
Overall: 8/20 (which means pretty damn bad, or average)
UMs Review Rating Scale
Official Balboa Website
Official Nitromegaprayer Website
Official Forge Again Records Website
Forge Again Records - FAR020 - 2006
By Brandon Strader
Here we have a split CD between two very different types of bands: Balboa. a whiney liberal hardcore group from Philadelphia, and Nitromegaprayer, a Japanese group that often crosses genre borders rather than claiming to be a certain genre. A few things can be certain here... One, groups that are so drastically different probably shouldn't be featured together on a split CD. Two, politics should never enter music unless in a small way, not completely using politics as a tool such as Balboa has done. Yes, we're all pissed off about the Iraq war and people are treated wrongly all the time.. do you really think a group making mediocre filthcore will change anything? Nay, there's more of a chance of groups like these making it worse. I'd hate to come across a bum in the street listening to Balboa and yelling at me for the state of the world - hey, I'm unemployed and I'm lucky I have a roof over my head and I didn't put you where you are and I can't help you, so go away and sell that Balboa CD for a couple bucks and buy some cheeseburgers on the dollar menu. Third, and I will state this prior to hearing the Nitromegaprayer portion of the disc, Japanese groups are usually good. Whether Nitromegaprayer lives up to the stereotype or not will be clarified by the end of this review.
Balboa uses some unique distorted chords in their music whilst their vocalist utterly smothers it completely with his unintelligable yells. For hardcore, the music isn't very exciting and seems to drag on for a while despite the very short length of each portion of the Split. The guitarists have some talent, and the bass is so downtuned you can barely make out what note it is playing! Note to the group: If you want to use bass in your group, maybe make it audible and decently tuned? Otherwise you might as well record a distorted fart into your music, and get a similar result. Even though the lyrics and concepts of Balboa dwell mainly on annoying "state-of-the-world" topics, you won't be able to tell unless you read the lyrics. The vocalist literally sounds like he is barfing up a huge hairball or something. Maybe this is deliberate as to somewhat hide the fact that they're writing about this stuff and not completely turn everyone off, or maybe the guy just sucks. I'd say the latter is more likely. Although the music of Balboa is fairly slow-paced, they bust out some decent melodies here and there, and manage to actually display a somewhat grimmer sound than your everyday hardcore act. There are only four songs by Balboa at the beginning of this Split, and none of them have managed to make a lasting impression on this reviewer. Songs like 'Rotgut' show some potential, but in the end it just sounds like pretty uninspired material with annoying vocals.
Nitromegaprayer starts out very strong on their part of the disc with some electronic sounds, ambient background screams, and funky grooves. The grooviness of this introduction lasts for over a minute though, and leaves you in confusion, "Is this ever going to change?". Eventually it does, and the screams that sounded so full of agony when reverberated in the background are now out front, and sound overly corny. Imagine a female version of the cookie monster with a high-pitched voice trying to sound low and you know how it sounds. It sounds like Big Bird sometimes too, especially when she begins chirping faster during the chorus. It's sad to see two decent musicial groups torn down by horrible vocalists...
Nitromegaprayer's music is very intense, and builds up to quite a great climax smothered with distorted growls and the same Big Bird screaming as well. The percussion here is a lot better than their Split partners, Balboa. The first track by Nitromegaprayer features some great jazz percussion work. The second song, however, is either programmed in a computer or is using triggers with these electronic drum sounds. It actually created a great soundscape, a very beautiful composition - almost ambient in a way, but it is completely ruined when - you guessed it - this celestial music is penetrated horribly by the vocalist's reverb-smothered-cookie-monster-big-bird-crap vocals. Actually I just heard a scream coming from the living room TV that sounded better than this woman's screams. I could have performed better screams with my anus. It's a sad day when such fantastic Japanese music is soiled in such a way.
In conclusion, I'd have to say Nitromegaprayer is worth checking out, even with the horrible vocalist, as the music is very good. Balboa on the other hand is a group you could skip unless you really like their brand of crudcore. The major faults of these two groups are the vocalists, how could probably easily be exchanged for a more capable and talented person. Or, perhaps if they purposely chose this sound, perhaps they could stop? There's nothing with a good old fashioned scream or growl, and sure you can put your own style into it and make it unique, but this is just incredibly stupid. Friends have described the vocalist for Nitromegaprayer as "a very pissy, opinionated rooster". Friends did not find the vocalist for Balboa worthy of a witty phrase.
Balboa: 3/10
Nitromegaprayer: 5/10
Overall: 8/20 (which means pretty damn bad, or average)
UMs Review Rating Scale
Official Balboa Website
Official Nitromegaprayer Website
Official Forge Again Records Website
