EASTERICA: REVISION

Most of this music involves a light, Eastern melody buried underneath a clattering heaviness. In many respects, it is comparable to Mastodon's Crack the Skye. While the album as a whole lacks variety, the execution of this style is generally impressive. Engaging and sometimes haunting melodies demonstrate a real sense of creativity. My major complaint would be the robotic bass drum thudding along through much of the album- it really takes away from otherwise intriguing and excellent music.

"Ali Baba" Fusing Eastern melodies and instrumentation with the thrashing of overdriven electric guitar can be a risk. Here, it works to great effect. Speaking of effects, I quite like the use of reverb.

"Bilad Al-Rafidayn" The follow-up to the first track seems almost like a natural extension of it. New Eastern melodies enchant the listener as a thundering rhythm section and heavy guitar pummels him back to reality.

"Gilgamesh" With a distorted chord progression and exotically discordant run, I am reminded of modern King Crimson, particularly the instrumentals on The Power to Believe. Again, the only negative for me is the drumming- that thumping underneath is too much. The drop off at the end is a great final touch.

"Sphinx" Very similar to the previous tracks, this one uses a lighter melody and a simpler rhythm.

"Ishtar" Once more, the overuse of the bass drum robs this otherwise majestic piece of its dynamics. The light melody underneath everything else is easily the best aspect.

"Dream about Sealand (Part II)" I love the alternate percussion used in this track that was briefly utilized in the previous one. It adds a dimension to the music rather than robbing it of its potency even though the irritating bass drum is still very much present.

"Eurasia" This terse piece seems to pick up where the previous one left off, keeping similar sound and drive, while presenting a more uplifting melody.

"Peak of the World" Using a rapid melody and quieter passages breaking up the piece, "Peak of the World" has a more dynamic approach with some extremely interesting tunes. The machine gun drumming may be the worst here, however.

"Flying" While everything before was very good, it lacked variety. This piece makes up for it: "Flying" features delicate hand percussion and a ringing melody that isn't drowned out all the way through, but builds and has an anticipatory feel.

"Easterica" This track should have been placed somewhere in the middle, I think. It shows a completely different side of Misanthrofeel on this album: Eerie, empty atmospheric keyboard evocative of barren and dangerous land.