KILLED BY CHARITY

As the title of this record, this might just be the album of excess, both artistically and in term of virtuosity. This unit always made a point of good musicianship and usually make a point of putting humour in their records, but here, outside the album title, I must say that this is not quite as enjoyable as the rest of their discography.

Vermeersch compositions are definitely a tad too obtuse for the average fan even if the habitual lunacy is still there it is more of a demented nature rather than fun. There are times (during the Break Too track most notably) when Monderlaer's singing is not too far from Crimson's Adrian Belew circa the Discipline album, and Vervloesem's guitar resembles the one in the same album's Elephant Talk. The second last track It's A Baby is the highlight of the album mostly because it is more accessible.

Not that this album, is not a typical X-L S album, far from it, but it is simply a bit off balance compared to previous Slow-Up or the following Land Of The Giant Dwarfs. Still highly impressive, but one gets the feeling that impressing you was their main idea on this album. They should've worried a bit more of the musical enjoyment a tad more. Maybe they just tried too hard to make a good record. They will be more successful by being more natural.