Mathias - The Blue Album
No Face Records - 2007
By Adam McAuley
This album seems to be interesting in how it is overlapped by many spoken dialogue segments, but manages to remain relatively exciting nonetheless. It almost comes across as something poetic or like a narrative, but the change is welcome to the variety of possible vocal styles that can be found on the disc. The remainder of the music on here is similarly very linear sounding with occasional breakdowns to break up the pace. The components all gel together into a relatively exciting listen, although there is nothing spectacular on display here. It makes for a fairly bouncy listen as well, picking up tempo at just the appropriate times to capture your attention.
The riffing present is fairly simplistic, merging into the more interesting solo sections. A distinctive flavor is given to the album, but it isn't quite compelling enough to be really noteworthy. The instrumental performances are likewise decent, but not quite as tight and punishing as they potentially could be. A bit of an unimpressive aura is given off during the first listen, but improves slightly as the elements gel together into a cohesive whole. One would perhaps wish for a more intensive or quick approach to the stylings, but their music works relatively well regardless. The vocals themselves aren't pristine sounding, but suit the remainder of the material fairly well. His somewhat raspy approach suits the stop and go type of music they play rather well.
Moderately recommended to any metal-head looking for a slight change of pace to their usual metal proceedings. Again, a slightly more compelling approach may have made this CD slightly more exciting. Regardless, they should appeal to a reasonable number of listeners anyways, particularly those that are used to music that is so extreme that the more subdued aura given off would be infinitely welcome.
Official Mathias Website
Official No Face Records Website
No Face Records - 2007
By Adam McAuley
This album seems to be interesting in how it is overlapped by many spoken dialogue segments, but manages to remain relatively exciting nonetheless. It almost comes across as something poetic or like a narrative, but the change is welcome to the variety of possible vocal styles that can be found on the disc. The remainder of the music on here is similarly very linear sounding with occasional breakdowns to break up the pace. The components all gel together into a relatively exciting listen, although there is nothing spectacular on display here. It makes for a fairly bouncy listen as well, picking up tempo at just the appropriate times to capture your attention.
The riffing present is fairly simplistic, merging into the more interesting solo sections. A distinctive flavor is given to the album, but it isn't quite compelling enough to be really noteworthy. The instrumental performances are likewise decent, but not quite as tight and punishing as they potentially could be. A bit of an unimpressive aura is given off during the first listen, but improves slightly as the elements gel together into a cohesive whole. One would perhaps wish for a more intensive or quick approach to the stylings, but their music works relatively well regardless. The vocals themselves aren't pristine sounding, but suit the remainder of the material fairly well. His somewhat raspy approach suits the stop and go type of music they play rather well.
Moderately recommended to any metal-head looking for a slight change of pace to their usual metal proceedings. Again, a slightly more compelling approach may have made this CD slightly more exciting. Regardless, they should appeal to a reasonable number of listeners anyways, particularly those that are used to music that is so extreme that the more subdued aura given off would be infinitely welcome.
Official Mathias Website
Official No Face Records Website
