My review for Panic Cell-Bitter Part Of Me(AKA Baldy's band)

Wicked Child

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Mar 4, 2003
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Why these guys aren’t enjoying success and oodles of radio play is beyond me. They have the hooks, the musical chops and the sound tosurvive on the radio. Maybe the world will catch up sooner or later.

The opening track, “Damn Self Pity” is a prime example of this. It smacks you head first with feedback, and then explodes with some hammering drums. The chorus sticks with you like a leech, and never lets go, while the driving rhythm beats whatever’s left of your broken carcass. “Away From Here” and “Save Me” both have serious chops and memorable choruses, as is the mellower “Shallow”. See a trend developing? Memorable melodies and choruses is the main strong point of this album. Just about every song has something that will stick with you long after you turn the CD player off. The title track is a big highlight, as it, again, has melodic hooks up the ass, and even a nice little solo. It’s also the most representative of the album, as a whole. And speaking of solos, there's an even better one in "Utter Madness" !

But even with its strong points, there are some weaknesses. Personally (and this is nitpicking), I don’t care for the modern guitar sound. Panic Cell does have a modern feel to them, so if you don’t like anything affiliated with the modern sound, (groove riffs, down tuning of the guitars, etc.) this album might be hard to get into. Normally, I’d be one of those people, but “Bitter Part Of Me” is much too catchy to dismiss. Now, I have mentioned that this album has its share of modern elements, but is it mallcore? I wouldn’t call it that, no. It’s metal, just with a very modern twist to it. One other low point that I can see is that the music can sound a tad samey. In other words, some of the songs lack original ideas. Ideas that were used in previous songs in the album. So, more diverse ideas would be a nice addition but really, that's about all I can nitpick about

This is a very enjoyable album, and this is coming from a guy that doesn't normally like this type of groove metal stuff, but this is just too damn catchy to really let go. Open your mind, and give this thing a try. You'll find yourself knowing all the choruses like the back of your hand.


7.5/10



I tried to be as honest and unbiased as I could, dude! I hope you like the review. :)
 
Great review Nik. I already chastised Baldy about the down-tuned guitars, but I still like it. I'm a reasonably friendly guy and want to be liked here, but if I didn't like the release I would have simply told Luke (Baldy) that it wasn't for me. Panic Cell rocks and they get some spin time in my player. What did you think about "Thousand Words" ? the "ballad" ?


Bryant
 
nice review nick-you summerise the band well with some of the comments,and i appreciate the honesty.all you guys that have reviewed it have done a great job,and as many of you are in the states,it gives me an idea of how the music would go down out there.i'm hoping to get stuff sorted out for distribution in the u.s fairly soon,and by the way you guys talk about it,we could do quite well.
bryant has already kicked our asses over the downtuned guitars!half the reason why he likes the ballad is cause its in a higher tuning!as far as mixing things up more goes,i guess changing keys more often would help.something for the next album i guess.
cheers nick,thanks for taking the time to do that for me.
hawk,did you get your copy?i sent it out the same time.
 
Bryant said:
Panic Cell rocks and they get some spin time in my player. What did you think about "Thousand Words" ? the "ballad" ?


Bryant
:grin: I love Panic Cell! And Thousand Words is a great lil ballad its one of those that you catch your self singing along to without even realizing it ...... Anyways YES PANIC CELL ROCKS!:worship:
 
Bryant said:
Great review Nik. I already chastised Baldy about the down-tuned guitars, but I still like it. I'm a reasonably friendly guy and want to be liked here, but if I didn't like the release I would have simply told Luke (Baldy) that it wasn't for me. Panic Cell rocks and they get some spin time in my player. What did you think about "Thousand Words" ? the "ballad" ?


Bryant
Yeh, i liked it. I don't know why i didn't mention it, actually. But yeh, it is a good song. And good for you Bryant for getting on him for down tuning! And believe me, as a "professional" reviwer, If i didn't like it, I would've said so. And I told Baldy that before I listened to the album. I don't believe in bullshit and fluff, i believe in the truth.
 
Wicked Child said:
Yeh, i liked it. I don't know why i didn't mention it, actually. But yeh, it is a good song. And good for you Bryant for getting on him for down tuning! And believe me, as a "professional" reviwer, If i didn't like it, I would've said so. And I told Baldy that before I listened to the album. I don't believe in bullshit and fluff, i believe in the truth.

Ha ha ha yep I believe you. Panic Cell is a quality band. I can't wait for their next one.


Bryant
 
Nick,

Thanks for the review. Hope you don't mind but I posted your review on the Panic Cell message board with the rest of the Ultimate Metal reviews:

Wicked Child's Review

Cheers Man and to all the other guys for the great reviews.

Kenji
 
baldyboy said:
hawk,did you get your copy?i sent it out the same time.
I sure did. Did I not thank you for that yet?? :blush: Baaaaad me!! I will review your album when I have listened to it enough. Its a bit hectic here at the moment.

Thanks so much for sending me the album. Impressions will come later! :)