LATERALUS

Before we get into the meat of my review, I would like to explain my 2 star rating. I am very open to listening to new types of music, and for me, progressive metal was a new journey. I figured I would start from what is considered the best in the prog metal genre. After listening to this album with an open mind, I've come to a conclusion: either I'm more biased against metal than I think, or I just don't hear something in this album that most everyone else seems to. Here is my actual review.

The Grudge: 5/10 A decent opener, didn't really peak, but was fun and decent to listen to. Sets the mood for the rest of the album. It does what an opening track is supposed to, nothing more, nothing less. If it had done a little bit more to not be repetitious, I would give it a higher rating.

Eon Blue Apocalypse: 3/10 A fine transition, but why? The album didn't gain anything from it being on the album. It's a decent track, but it just seems like pointless filler to me.

The Patient: 4.3/10 A solid track that should have been an instrumental. Let me get this straight; I absolutely despise the vocals for this album. The auto tune is very strong with this album, and this band in general, it seems. If this track had been an instrumental, I might have actually enjoyed it.

Mantra: 7/10 The only good transition on this album, and a great setup for Schism.

Schism: 9/10 This track (and the title track) are the only reasons I gave this album as high a rating as I did. This is one of the only tracks on the album that, for me, made me want to listen to even more of the album. My brain always feels absolutely numb afterwards. This song is genius (along with title track), but 2 rights compared to 10 wrongs (in my opinion) really doesn't do much for the album.

Parabol(a): 4/10 I'm gonna combine my review for these 2 tracks into one giant review. Which is exactly what the band should have done when they made these tracks. I understand that its cool to have a calm song before a heavy song and that the songs have a name similarity, but its such an overused prog cliche. Not to mention the songs just seem bland and generic.

Ticks and Leeches: 4.7/10 The only reason this song got even a 4.7 is the drumming. The vocals are shit, and the song is repetitious (again). Thats probably my biggest problem with this album: it just seems like pointless repetition to me. Coming from a hardcore King Crimson fan, that should tell you something. 70's hardcore edgy Crimson is my favorite generation of the band, but this prog metal band seems pointless and repetitious. it tries too hard to be hardcore, and again, I despise the vocals.

Lateralus: 9/10 Like I mentioned while I was discussing Schism, this track and that ones are the only reason I gave this album as high a rating I did. its just an enjoyable track. Nothing else to say about it.

Disposition: 4.5/10 A "meh" transition track. Nice bassline, but goes absolutely nowhere.

Reflection: 3/10 A continuation of Disposition, it follows a similar pathway, and takes f*cking forever to climax. I love long songs, (Echoes by Pink Floyd is my favorite song ever), but just because its a long song doesn't mean it has to take forever to climax. I'll compare this to Pigs (Three Different Ones) by Pink Floyd because they have a similar song length. That song has amazing vocals and sends a political message. It also features about 3 guitar solos, one of which uses a talkbox (type of wah pedal). Reflection just seems pointless. Its got a slow (11 minute) build-up, horrid, auto-tuned vocals, and for what? A guitar solo at the end. There are many, many prog songs that follow the same trope and ace it. This track, however, did not.

Triad: 2/10 Another instrumental, (I almost forgot the band did instrumentals, as its been 7 tracks since we've seen one), it features some heavy riffing and then 2:10 minutes of silence. Absolute silence. Absolute. F*cking. Silence. I don't know if this is what some people consider "genius", but I sure don't.

Faaip de Oiad: 0/10 This album has a theme for pointless nonsense. This is exactly that. Just end the goddamn album already.

Thank you for reading my review (or rant, depending on your point of view). I apologize if I angered or offended anyone in my review. Please just remember that you are reading a review that someone you don't know personally wrote about an album he doesn't like. We cool? Cool.