Strapping Young Lad Alien
Century Media Records CM 8327-2 March 22nd, 2005
By Jason Jordan
Im kind of confused. I thought Alien was going to be heavier and angrier than SYL, but the former is actually more personable. Im sure youve heard Alien in its entirety; it leaked a while back. At any rate, I think this particular album is Strapping Young Lads strongest outing since City, but thats no major achievement.
Methinks the production on this one is more fine-tuned than SYLs, which means that an opener such as Imperial doesnt relay the frenetic instrumentation as it should. On the whole, I think the sound quality on the groups latest is perhaps weaker than its predecessors. Complaints aside, it is indeed a decent introduction that segues into the longer-than-usual Skeksis. The aforementioned is a great tune that displays the frantic musicianship that Strapping Young Lad are known for, as well as keyboard arrangements that rise to complete lofty, atmospheric goals. Shitstorm, the first single I believe, returns to maniacal roots as iterated by Townsends (The Devin Townsend Band, ex-Steve Vai) hate-infused, vocal performance. Love? has the most groove-oriented riffs present on the disc, and I love how Hoglans (Dark Angel, ex-Death, ex-Testament) double-bass is superimposed with the riffage and then isnt. In Shine, the subtle synths at the 1:15 minute mark are nice touches. We Ride is a quick, pissed-off composition. Two Weeks is the proverbial odd man out, because its serene and acoustic amidst many troubled songs. Thalamus retains a bombastic beginning, however, but continually dips into astral passages, while Zen ruminates for about fifty seconds until its content to blastoff. Arguably, the most perplexing thing about Alien is the extraneous (is it?) Infodump, which comprises the last twelve minutes of the album. All that is heard is static and unintelligible voices.
Despite being slightly more laid back than SYL, this album felt more cohesive and substantial than its ancestor. Though diehard Strapping Young Lad fans alliances may lie with City, Alien is nevertheless pretty good. In other words, its worth picking up if you have some extra cash. But, maybe you should save it for their killer live show instead.
8/10
Official Strapping Young Lad website
Official Century Media Records website
Century Media Records CM 8327-2 March 22nd, 2005
By Jason Jordan
Im kind of confused. I thought Alien was going to be heavier and angrier than SYL, but the former is actually more personable. Im sure youve heard Alien in its entirety; it leaked a while back. At any rate, I think this particular album is Strapping Young Lads strongest outing since City, but thats no major achievement.
Methinks the production on this one is more fine-tuned than SYLs, which means that an opener such as Imperial doesnt relay the frenetic instrumentation as it should. On the whole, I think the sound quality on the groups latest is perhaps weaker than its predecessors. Complaints aside, it is indeed a decent introduction that segues into the longer-than-usual Skeksis. The aforementioned is a great tune that displays the frantic musicianship that Strapping Young Lad are known for, as well as keyboard arrangements that rise to complete lofty, atmospheric goals. Shitstorm, the first single I believe, returns to maniacal roots as iterated by Townsends (The Devin Townsend Band, ex-Steve Vai) hate-infused, vocal performance. Love? has the most groove-oriented riffs present on the disc, and I love how Hoglans (Dark Angel, ex-Death, ex-Testament) double-bass is superimposed with the riffage and then isnt. In Shine, the subtle synths at the 1:15 minute mark are nice touches. We Ride is a quick, pissed-off composition. Two Weeks is the proverbial odd man out, because its serene and acoustic amidst many troubled songs. Thalamus retains a bombastic beginning, however, but continually dips into astral passages, while Zen ruminates for about fifty seconds until its content to blastoff. Arguably, the most perplexing thing about Alien is the extraneous (is it?) Infodump, which comprises the last twelve minutes of the album. All that is heard is static and unintelligible voices.
Despite being slightly more laid back than SYL, this album felt more cohesive and substantial than its ancestor. Though diehard Strapping Young Lad fans alliances may lie with City, Alien is nevertheless pretty good. In other words, its worth picking up if you have some extra cash. But, maybe you should save it for their killer live show instead.
8/10
Official Strapping Young Lad website
Official Century Media Records website
