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Thought Industry - Songs for Insects CD (album) cover

SONGS FOR INSECTS

Thought Industry

Progressive Metal


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5 stars Being a patron of Progarchives for about a year and a half, I've constantly read and looked at the various reviews published here, constantly discovering works of artists I have never heard of and reconsidering works of artists that I have listened to for years. I feel like now it is time for me to contribute to the sprawling collections of words and opinions that grace most of the albums good enough to be called 'progressive' When I decided on what I wanted to review first, I did not want to choose an obvious staple as I feel it would pale to and get lost within the already abundant amount of reviews already written. It had to be about an album that I was very passionate about but I also wanted to progress the site further by adding to an album that has thus been ignored. So without further ado, I present to you Thought Industry and the fantastic debut album "Songs for Insects".

"Songs for Insects" is one of the most abstract, intelligent, and heavy pieces of progressive metal I have ever had the joy of listening to. The small Kalamazoo-based Thought Industry sure hit the mark and all the right notes when constructing this masterpiece. Once in a while, you'll find an album that you love where every song is put in the right place, perfectly balanced, and cannot be skipped over. This is the definition of an 'album' as opposed to a collection of songs of a similar theme put together. Yet each song completely stands on its own as quality progressive metal with tinges of avant-garde to spice things up every now and then.

Starting from a musical standpoint, you can tell that these are 4 musicians who understand not only how to play their instruments, but also how their instruments play together and into each other. Vocally, I find a strong connection from singer Brent Oberlin to Fates Warning singer John Arch in the way they weave lyrics together and pronounce words in such a way that, although unorthodox,they tend to flow with the music itself. Oberlin can switch from a sing-songy croon to a effect-distorted scream, depending on the desired mood of the verse, making it more interesting as you can never tell when one will occur at a given point. And, ever more impressively, he performs this all while playing bass, and oh what a bass he plays ladies and gentlemen. Guitarists Paul Enzio and Christopher Lee sure do their own part in adding to the technical wizardry and they take turns creating zig-zaging solos, that in all of the chaos and time changes, seem perfectly fit within their rhythms and are not extraneous in any way whatsoever. And how can I forget Dustin Donaldson, who effortlessly dances in these jazz and classical rhythms, every now and then adding his own subtle finishes, where need be. When taken all together, the music speaks for itself in its complexity, emotion, and, d*%^ it all, its catchiness. Even with the extreme direction that some songs can progress into, I can't help but finding myself whistling to these tunes from time to time.

On the other side of the coin lies the lyrical aspect of Thought Industry which only adds to the wonder of "Songs for Insects". From just one glance at the lyrics of the liner notes, it is amazing to see how much information these guys can pack into one song. From ramblings about Mao Zedong and Tianamen Square to God-wondering references about philosophers such as Anselm, Pascal, and Mackie to simply perplexing rants about subjects I can't even begin to decipher. It is surely text that you can just sit down and try to analyze and have fun coming up with your own conclusions to, an aspect of lyric composition that I definitely find much joy in.

Now I personally left out any specific mention of songs in the review as I have discovered, through personal experience. that a review constantly rating and describing the songs can sometimes leave me with an expectation, and might degrade my personal listening and feeling. With this in mind, I leave my readers who have not discovered this magnificent album, to expand their palate and hopefully find the same reverence and feeling I have found from "Songs for Insects". I mean, isn't that the point of music? To experience an emotional state of unique awe and wonder that can only be achieved from that piece, and to deliver that same state to others. And I hope I have accomplished that today.

Report this review (#482666)
Posted Friday, July 15, 2011 | Review Permalink
siLLy puPPy
SPECIAL COLLABORATOR
PSIKE, JRF/Canterbury, P Metal, Eclectic
5 stars First of all, I must say that this didn't start out as a masterpiece when I first heard it 20 years ago. I picked up this first album by the Kalamazoo, Michigan band totally by chance not knowing a thing about it. Only intrigued by the Dali cover art, the band name, the title and the track names. Nothing else was like this then and to this day I still have not heard anything that sounds like this. Once I started listening it was a very strange form of metal indeed. I'm still not sure what this is but I guess progressive punky thrash metal would be the best description that fits but there's an avant-garde feel to the whole thing as well.

Even after the first listen I wasn't sure if I liked this but there was an underlying catchiness to it that kept me listening to it over and over. After many years and many listens, SONGS FOR INSECTS has grown on me to the point where I love this album and it ranks very high on my faves list. Every song is well constructed. With interesting philosophical lyrics and progressive twists and turns, it really takes you on intriguing rides. I pretty much love everything about this including the vocals by frontman Brent Oberlin, which at first sound a little weak but over time I have found them perfect for the sound and it doesn't dissuade me from giving this album the highest of praise.

Report this review (#1070291)
Posted Friday, November 1, 2013 | Review Permalink
5 stars Thought Industry-Songs for Insects

'Songs for Insects' is the debut studio album by avant-garde/thrash metal band Thought Industry. This is one weird band and album, and you may wonder how they got signed to a major label so quickly in their career. Well, Metallica's Jason Newsted brought their demo to the ears of Metal Blade Records and they were signed on. Thought Industry would continue to be pretty damn weird until their fourth release in 1997 when they moved in an alternative rock direction.

If you listen to this album once, you most likely won't fully understand it. However, the more you listen, the more the pure strangeness just sinks into your brain. This is no ordinary thrash album as you can most likely tell by the usage of Salvador Dali's 'Soft Construction with Boiled Beans (Premonitions of Civil War)' as an album cover. This is a crazy avant-garde technical thrash metal album with a big smorgasbord of musical styles combined, and probably one of the most unique albums I've ever heard. While this is an album that needs a few listens to fully understand, the opening track 'Third Eye' is an instant gem. I fell in love with this song the first time I heard it, the fast-paced drum beats and the grooving stomp of the guitars opens this song perfectly. Once Brent Oberlin's vocals come in, it fits perfectly with the crunching guitar and just sends chills down my spine. Easily my favorite on the album.

The weirdness comes in with the next song, the title track. This nearly 10-minute song never stays in one place. From thrashing goodness, to menacing passages with meandering guitar, to crazy drumming combined with wacky bass slaps that would later be heard in Mudvayne's 'L.D. 50' album. My second favorite from the album is probably 'Cornerstone' with it's industrial groove. Oberlin gives some strange vocals here, with weird guitar and mechanical drum pounding. The avant-garde strangeness continues with 'Daughter Mobius', which enters in with what sounds like some folk dance before thrashing guitar comes in. Next is the beautiful acoustic track 'Alexander Vs. The Puzzle', before being assaulted with another wacky thrash song in 'Ballerina' with great unique vocals from Oberlin. As you can probably tell, the lyrics are mostly surreal and unconventional, matching the Dali album cover. The song 'Third Eye', however, has awesome political lyrics such as 'Someone lied about God and Country but I have a third eye politically. What will it take to tear it all down? What does it take to see the U.S. draft's a lie.'

Overall, this will most likely be one of the weirdest albums you'll ever hear. It may take a few listens to really enjoy it, but I highly recommend this album to anyone wanting something weird, avant-garde, and unique. If you like thrash metal, groove metal, industrial metal, or anything avant-garde, this has elements of all of those.

(Originally written for www.metalmusicarchives.com)

Report this review (#1403836)
Posted Saturday, April 25, 2015 | Review Permalink
5 stars Mods Carve The Pig was an album that I loved, and that I consider a masterpiece, so I was very intrigued and curious about its predecessor and debut album, Songs For Insects and I must say: astonished. the sound of Songs for Insects is still quite complex and strange, progressive and avant-garde, but I ended up finding this album more difficult to absorb than Mods, each song has several facets, with constant rhythm changes and a very diverse composition, and the lyrics they end up being a factor that I also like a lot, although they are not as surrealistic as Mods, they are quite philosophical and interesting, they contribute a lot to the album they are creative, overall, an incredible debut, it is difficult for me to say if I like him more or Mods, but I guarantee it's worth it, so abstract and unique that even after so many years it's difficult to find an album like it.
Report this review (#2970336)
Posted Saturday, December 2, 2023 | Review Permalink

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