BLEEDING

Words couldn't be spoken more true about the last defining album in PSYCHOTIC WALTZ's history. An Ace indeed!! Now what transpired in the vision and making of this album was to have the approach of a more modern sound production while still not losing the progressive attitude that clearly defined PSYCHOTIC WALTZ's true character.'

For me, it's the old adage whereby sometimes the 'simple' approach can really make your overall sound, as a band, actually better! In this case I think the more accessible, modern sound that PSYCHOTIC WALTZ put forth with BLEEDING worked out for the better and not for the worse. It's good to change things up and it is clearly shown now to me, that no PSYCHOTIC WALTZ album sounds like the other...not even similar for that matter. Meanwhile, lets be clear here for a moment cause when I say 'simple' I don't mean that the music off BLEEDING is 'dumbed down' in anyway, especially in relation to PW's previous 3 releases. The album, BLEEDING is still as every bit as artful and sophisticated as anything they've ever done. It's well produced, mixed and engineered. For instance, LACKEY's vocal approach is stronger and more mature in connection to the more modernized sound the band carries. Its a fantastic blend, in relation to how the vocals pair so nicely with the music. On the other hand, The guitars by COX (replaced McALPNE due to family issues) and DAN ROCK sound far more fluent and less flashy while still keeping their progressive edge (thank god.) Also the drumming goes without saying, by still being steady as a rock from NORM LEGGIO. As for The bass, by CUTINO is more chunky and it stands out a lot more than previous sound directions by the band. I could barely here the bass on INTO THE EVERFLOW. I just couldn't!!

All in all, the album BLEEDING in my opinion really worked and it was a nice note to end on, in what I think was a brilliant 4 album career.'

The key highlights for me on BLEEDING was the amazing 'chunky' bass line opener in the track FADED, which immediately took me back to the late 80's of how FLEA from the R.H.C.P's would play. Needless to say I loved Flea's work on some RHCP albums and CUTINO reminded me of that. Furthermore, the track MY GRAVE would be an instant hit to my ears and BUDDY LACKEY's flute would remind me of non other than IAN ANDERSON of JETHRO TULL. I wouldn't, however, go as far to say that MY GRAVE was totally inspired by TULL's music. No way in fact. MY GRAVE is yet another unique, quality song produced by mostly LACKEY a.k.a GRAVES himself. MY GRAVE is the quintessential ballad of the BLEEDING album. To continue my plight of passion for this album, SLEEP is a great track where the guitar shines bright with epic soloing from ROCK, which takes you back to the SOCIAL GRACE and INTO THE EVERFLOW experiences where the guitar sound was fast, furious and more technical than space shuttle equipment. Lastly, and how could I ever forget, the massive melodic and majestically driven tracks LOCUST and MORBID. My favourite tracks on the album easily. Both tracks exhibit the strength and quality in LACKEY's voice that you are sure to fall in love with. I love both MORBID and LOCUST equally and they are similar sounding to HAZE ONE from 1994's MOSQUITO, which is another all time favourite for me. Quality music!! And it's cool to note that fans of DREAM THEATER's AWAKE album will find that the opening keyboards by GRAVES on the track MORBID sound so reminiscent to KEVIN MOORE's keys on LIFTING SHADOWS OF A DREAM. I tell you, that didn't hurt me from absolutely loving the MORBID track. Haha.'

In conclusion, this is another incredible effort from PSYCHOTIC WALTZ and I really appreciate the difference that BLEEDING carries compared to PSYCHOTIC WALTZ's other 3 previous releases. BLEEDING is still a heavy album, but not as much as the other albums A SOCIAL GRACE and INTO THE EVERFLOW, which I prefer a bit more due to heavy complex nature both those albums embody musically and lyrically. 'Thus, BLEEDING goes down as an absolutely well received album and it should get the respect of a lot of progressive metal fans and if I might add, Grunge music fans as well.'

Happy Psychotic listening to all.'

4/5

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