REVERSE FENG-SHUI AUDIO GUIDE

There are a number of ways to practice the art of reverse feng-shui. One way is to arrange your house into an unusually awkward state, such as placing the sofa two feet from your enormous LCD screen and situating a working toilet next to the refrigerator, or you can just set up your living room in similar fashion to this EP's cover. You can also simply play this "audio guide" on your HI-Fi system to any sophisticated guests visiting your home and witness the effects of reverse feng-shui first-hand.

The music is a jerky form of crossover thrash that adorns math-metal with some funky and jazzy elements. Every instrument, including the bouncy bass guitar, is up to something nutty pretty much throughout these five tracks, while singer Andreas howls away, lurching from aggressive deranged drill sergeant shouts to some gutteral bellows and frequent moments of actual singing, but not in that earnest metalcore style. This band really is all about being bonkers, and sound like the sort of guys who throw furniture around when they're bored or need to achieve that sense of reverse feng-shui necessary for musical inspiration. I will say though that they don't go overboard with their antics though. Each song has its own identity and some catchy moments that distinguish them, adding a nice memorability factor.

There's a strong sense of playfulness concerning a few of these cuts, with my personal favorite being "Predictable Patterns Of Extreme Minds", which utilizes spoken word passages to great and even humorous effect while the music roars in a bizarrely groovy fashion. The instrumental skill-level is pretty much stellar, with the drumming practically being a 'given' due to the difficult time signatures and sudden bursts of aggression involved. Some fantastic guitar playing is showcased as well, not just within the rhythm constructs of the songs, but regarding the melodic bits as well. That spate of soloing within "In Silent Graves" is quite technical and snazzy.

The production is decent enough, but lacking a bit of underlying heaviness, and some tunes work better than others, in that I prefer the more adventurous tracks and find the 'singing vocals' merely adequate, although not annoying. It's a reasonably fun, if rather harsh ride, and now that this review is finished, I will now get some rest on my bed, located in my bathroom.