Does brass metal can bulge?

When hearing about the new Mental Overdrive (NO), everyone with even a hint of interest looked for trouble. The third album from RE5, a Boston-based metal band, also features Daniel Cameron who just finished a New York Times bestselling memoir of old DOS programming. Promises made by Loudwire (promo art was cut by electronic artist and hoaxer Trevor Curtis) of a major label deal for the band, credibility issues within the metal community (Fanzines like Metal Hammer suspect the band is fed by the same entities for heavy metal music) and even with ALL of that, it seemed to already be the definite us vs. Johnny Five scenario even before it hit the streets.

But could we have expected the band to back down after a strong showing with these first two albums? What the hell is going on here? It must be a record that, were it any other band, it would not have been out that long. It would not have left people there with little to complain about, yet here, people are already crowing about it being a "tasty spoiler." Well, as a metalhead with a faithful four-month-old daughter I get it. But do the band really deserve to take the jabs on NO?

This album was, despite a catchy bass solo, a very underwhelming commodity, and the band did what any band does when many of their records come out after a long wait. They rushed a lot of things on the album and frankly, it shows. Maybe, to some degree, the band really wanted people to see a nice new car going down a swerving street in the streets of Boston, we shall see. But nevertheless, the release comes off like a bagful of Band-Aid and not a collection of sound.

Fans of the band that started with Metal/Halloween Haze will want to keep their antennae pointed towards the front of the album: The addition of a major city metalcore/segue to the open season to what should be called Counting The Beat Notes. Throughout this record, it is presented as just another fast-paced, three-minute onslaught of 20 minutes of fury.

Each track looks disheveled, people waylaid at the end of the song who can't actually identify which part of the record they wanted to listen to. One thing, however, is obvious: A-583, where the band takes a small step away from murder metal, is the heaviest in the set. No matter what approach the band might take on some of their newer songs, A-583 is just on the edge of as much as you get on other albums.

For the record, the group had a much worse track to accommodate for a less straightforward sound this time out. "Havel", is the third track, still fairly long, but is also a mess of mix-up that lacks in texture. Musical sidekicks are also a big struggle to conjure up an in-your-face approach that works on this track.

A-584, with a two-track-long metal sermon about divinity, gospel, and philosophy, is also plagued by technical issues. The clash of lyrics and music is impossible to distinguish.

The main point is that the band was so rushed on a record that had so many flaws, the performances of each band member on the recordings could have come out quite easily.

The suicide refrain found in A-584 is the weakest moment among the rest. Even with excellent sound quality and an incredible backing track, it is painfully confusing and a poor fit for any song from this album. Yes, the album is probably likely to receive re-releases this summer with black versions of tracks available for those that like their bombs, but this record was already out of date upon release and was already second-hand.

For another record, perhaps the bad press comes with the territory. If reviews by "core" music journalists could come out of the gate with such disgust then maybe they'd be responsible for good new records. But, when someone is already at odds between bands with widely different styles of music, how far from the truth, in this case, would be amazing, great new metal records?