REVIEWS - "A Beautiful Sickness" CD (page 9)

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Terrorizer - (8 out of 10) by Oliver "Zoltar" Badin. Issue # 126. December 2004

We were all happy to hear about Snake’s return to the mighty Voivod but it did suddenly cast a shadow over Eric Forrest’s six-year-long decisive contribution to Korgull’s world. And just as he helped the underrated ‘Phobos’ sound even darker and creepier, he now makes Project: Failing Flesh’s debut the beast it truly is. Officially, Forrest’s real band is E-Force and he has contributed to P:FF as a ‘favour’ to two of his friends, Tim Gutierrez and Kevin 131. But with a ripping thrash metal core escaping all attempts to be pigeonholed, he must have felt right at home. Sounding like a cross between Ministry’s ‘Psalm 69’ – and guess what – Voivod. ‘A Beautiful Sickness’ takes the best of industrial, goth and even death metal and blends it in a surprisingly coherent way. Avant garde cyber punk metal it ain’t, but it’s damned good industrial thrash – the way it should be.

Metal-realm - (8 out of 10) by Takis Pomonis. November 2004

This trio may present themselves as a new band, but they are not "new" in the scene as individuals. All three of them are renown metal musicians, singer Eric Forrest mostly (Voivod). In this debut CD the guys perform a quite interesting meltdown of industrial with extreme metal (mostly thrash/hardcore). It's easily concluded that there has been a lot of work put on the songs. They have unpredictable changes and breaks, they keep you going along in no time. Inspired riffing, atmospheric ambient keyboard tunes as well as some paranoid violin melodies (Burzum etc. , sometimes used as background, some other lead), but don't imagine any happy-happy keyboard thing. They reminded me mostly of Godflesh at their most metal days. I think this a perfect description for this album. And some mid-Voivod influences too. All in all, "A Beautiful Sickness" is the most interesting Karmageddon Media release for a long time. The main reason for that, it's that there's a eerie creepy paranoia which feeds on the songs and grows stronger from song to song, resulting in getting you hooked up with the music after the first listening. And, goodness, it's not another re-release! ("9mm movie" is a great song!)

Quintessence (Netherlands) - by Sicktus. December 2004

Wow. This is a difficult one. Project: Failing Flesh have managed to combine so many influences, sounds and approaches in one album, that it is absolutely impossible to file ‘A Beautiful Sickness’ under one single term, or even under a few terms. They’ve successfully blended all their ingredients into their own cooking, by the way. Let that be the first compliment to make, they really have quite a sound of their own, for as far as that’s possible in metal nowadays. Anyway, there’s thrash, there’s death, there’s industrial, there’s quite a few instruments you don’t hear all too often on a metal album (like for instance a cello and a piano), there’s just a LOT going on here. After several (failed) attempts to get the feeling of this album down in ‘overall’ words, I’ve decided to do the album track-by-track. I normally hate to do that, as I consider it to be a sign of weakness, but let this be my second compliment to Project: Failing Flesh. Alright, with that out of the way, let’s have a look at the band: no one less than Eric Forrest – ex Voivod – is doing the vocals, perfectly finishing off the soundscape laid down by instrumentalists Tim Gutierrez and Kevin 131, the latter also responsible for recording and producing this fine piece of music, by the way.

The album starts of with an aggressive kick in the face, entitled ‘A Beautiful Sickness’. I really can’t help but think about Fear Factory’s ‘Demanufacture’ record when I hear the first seconds of heavy and staccato drums. The song quickly develops into an up tempo modern thrasher, with delicious vocals and pretty enthusing drums and riffs. Add some cool breaks, tempo changes, blasts, synths and ‘clean’ vocal parts and you’ve got a song that could perhaps best be described as varied modern thrash.

After ‘A Beautiful Sickness’, Project: Failing Flesh continue with ‘Planet Dead’. A great tension build-up with amongst others a cello and synth climaxes into a (oldschool) deathmetal riff-frenzy that would certainly get a pit going live. Up tempo, blasts, aggressive vocals, cool, memorable riffs… But then a sudden change into some more retrospective, spherical, synth guided parts.

‘9mm Movie’ starts of with a hypnotic, heavy and doomy riff and drumpattern, with filthy vocals, all in all reminding me a bit of the later Hypocrisy stuff. The song drags on and on, with layer after layer being added to the music. There’s a cello, keys, a distorted violin and beneath that the heavy, doomy riff keeps on going and going. Great song. Very dark, eerie and gloomy.

‘Scene of a Crime’ is another kick in the face song, with staccato drum and vocal patterns, reminding me quite a lot of Fear Factory’s clinical ‘Obsolete’ album, but then with a few extra layers here and there. The song goes from staccato and heavy to up tempo thrash and back, with some industrial and atmospheric ingredients. By far not the best song on the album, by the way.

The next song, ‘Entrance wound’, relies heavily on the combination of the droning guitar riff and the up tempo part of the song, with a very cool piano supported – yet thrashing - chorus. One of the more ‘standard’ modern thrash metal songs on the album.

‘Long Silent Voices’ has once again a lot of staccato drumming and riffing in it, combined with the aggressive vocals of Eric Forrest. Up tempo bits, odd guitar work, a dark and disturbing piano and synth based finishing touch… Another song with a lot of standard ingredients, taken one step further by Project: Failing Flesh’s unusual approach.

HELL YEAH! ‘Dementia Pugilistica’ would definitely be my ‘DJ’s Choice’ song of this record. A supercool oldschool Swedish deathmetal riff, that could have easily been on a Bloodbath record. Ultra-aggressive vocals, brutal blasts, that superb riff… Great oldschool deathmetal. Of course, Project: Failing Flesh wouldn’t be who they are if they wouldn’t take this song and give it a twist here and there, but overall, this song is just a damn cool deathmetal track, perfectly fitting my ears.

‘Taste of the Lie’ is probably the most vague and industrial ‘song’ on the album, drum computer, sound effects, reminiscences of Ministry and Prong, heaviness, ending in distortion… I say ‘song’, because this track doesn’t have the great build up as most of the other songs do have and it just doesn’t appeal to me. The only track I felt like skipping each time I played ‘A Beautiful Sickness’.

The last original on the album is called ‘Highwire Act’, driven for the biggest part by an almost stoner riff, but of course, this song also has enough breaks, staccato riffing, blast parts and variation to keep it interesting.

‘A Beautiful Sickness’ ends with a Venom cover of the song ‘Warhead’, but then of course Project: Failing Flesh’ style… A nice extra.

All in all, the combination of great musicianship, very varied songs, superb build ups, weird instruments, industrial influences and an original approach to thrash and death metal make this album really strong. Because of the rather industrial and clinical overall sound of the record, a comparison with Fear Factory is of course all too easy. The combination of aggressive vocals, growls, spoken word bits and clean vocals remind me of Fear Factory as well every now and then. But in heavy yet symphonic songs like ‘9mm Movie’ a comparison with the later Hypocrisy would be more in order. Very dark, very atmospheric, very gloomy. Conclusion: forty minutes of extremely varied and well-composed modern metal for the open minded. I definitely like it and look forward to the already underway second album of this band!

Rough Edge - (3.5 out of  4) by Christopher J. Kelter. January 2005

I was in one of those stages of my reviewing responsibilities that forced me to look at every self-produced act with a seriously negative eye. Although I have a soft spot for local, East Coast-based talent I still couldn't bring myself to hear Project: Failing Flesh's "A Beautiful Sickness." And I know the main members through their production efforts (Deceased, Brave) – even so, "A Beautiful Sickness" dutifully awaited its turn to be listened to, picked apart, and reviewed by yours truly. Even learning that Eric Forrest (E-Force, ex-Voivod) provided the vocals on the disc did little to make me want to hear it. However, I got on a reviewing roll and randomly picked the disc up for its long-awaited turn in my CD player.

Project: Failing Flesh have created a sometimes slow-moving, sometimes fast, heavy, yet beautiful near-masterpiece of atmospheric metal that somehow manages to bridge death metal, thrash, goth, doom, and eclectic nearly un-describable left-field industrial weirdness that seems unified and complete. "A Beautiful Sickness" features 9 original tracks of the band's organic/mechanized hybrid creations as well as a cover of Venom's "Warhead." The band's original material is fresh, charged, deliberate, and moody. Every track has its own personality and character – that's hard to achieve. The cover of "Warhead" has its own separate personality – it's nice to see bands pay proper homage to their predecessors.

Please note that the 2004 version of this disc was re-released by Candlelight USA/Karmageddon Media in North American markets with different artwork.

"A Beautiful Sickness" was produced by Kevin 131 and Tim Gutierrez.

Project: Failing Flesh is Eric Forrest on vocals, Kevin 131 on all instruments, and Tim Gutierrez on all instruments. Keyboards by Loston Harris. Dysrhythmia's Clayton Ingerson contributes viola.

Stalkermusic - (4.5 out of 5) by Markus Rask. November 2004

Kolmehenkisen yhtyeen debyyttialbumi kuulostaa uskomattoman hyvältä. Karmageddon Media tuntuu löytävän juuri oikeita artisteja talliinsa. Ensimmäisen kerran levy on julkaistu bändin omasta toimesta vuonna 2003, mutta silloin siitä tehtiin vain 300 kopiota ja se oli eri kansitaiteella varustettu kuin uutukainen, joka julkaistiin siis syyskuun kuudentena päivänä tätä vuotta.

Jo ensimmäinen kappale ottaa kuulijan haltuunsa erinomaiselta kuulostavan riffin voimin ja samanlainen meno jatkuu läpi levyn 9 oman kappaleen. P:FF kuulostaa deathmetallilta, jota on modernisoitu toimimaan nykymaailmassa muutamien konesampläysten voimin. Kosketinsoittimet nousevat taustalta, ehkä hieman liikaa pinnalle, joissakin kappaleissa, mutta se on vain pieni yksityiskohta näin hyvältä kuulostavassa kokonaisuudessa. Rumpu- ja bassosoundit soivat täydellisesti yhteen. Etenkin basson vihainen alavireinen murina tuo todella suuren lisämausteen levylle. Erinäisiä bändivertauksia P:FF:stä voisi toki esittää, mutta jätänpä sen jokaisen kuuntelijan oman arvostelukyvyn varaan...

Orkesteri koostuu kolmesta vihaisesta miehestä. Heidän joukostaan löytyy mm. ex-VoiVod-vokalisti Eric Forrest, jonka huutoa on mukava kuunnella. Bändillä on juuret syvällä, mutta oma puu täytyy vielä kasvattaa, jotta deathin suurien nimien joukkoon pääsee. Alku vaikuttaa lupaavalta.

P:FF kirjoittaa jo kappaleita uudelle levylleen ja sen julkaisua odotan enemmän kuin innoissani, sillä kädessäni lepäävä debyytti on sen verran kuumaa kamaa... Parempaa cover-kappaletta ei P:FF olisi voinut valita. Viimeisenä rutistuksena kasvoille hyökkää Venomin – Warhead-kappale. P:FF:n version Venomista vie varmasti viimeisiltäkin epäilijöiltä sanat suusta ja saa niskat nyökyttelemään hitaan jyräyksen tahdissa.

Maininnan arvoiset ovat myös yhtyeen kotisivut, joilla esitellään lääketieteellisiä draamoja. Näihin, nykymaailman oikkuihin, ilmeisesti perustuu orkesterin koko toiminta, nimenvalintaa ja kappaleiden sanoituksia myöten. Siitä bändille erikoismaininta, kerrankin jollain on omanlaisia mielipiteitä ja joku oma juttu, jota viedä eteenpäin ja jalostaa.

Erinomaista deathmetal-ajanvietettä!

Mega Sin - (8 out of 10) by Wojiech Szymanski. Issue # 4. November 2004

Rozne rzeczy slyszalem juz o zapowiadanym od kilku dobrych miesiecy debiucie Project: Failing Flesh. Jedno bylo pewne: w jego udzial jest zamiezanych dwoch ludzi zajmujacych sie dotad glownie produkcja plyt innych zespol, a na wokalu jest Eric Forrest, znany z E-Force, a wczesniej z Voivod. I te wlasnie dwa elementy okazaly sie znacacymi dla “A Beautiful Sickness”, bo z jednej strony praca zinnymi artystami zaowocowala swietnie wyprodukowanym albumem, a z drugiej duzo do calosci wniosla kreatywnosc Erica, ktory nie boi sie eksperymentowania w ramach ekstremalnej muzyki. Ten drugi watek chcialbym nieco rozwinac, bo pomimo wielu prob sklasyfikowania zawartej na plycie nikt jednoznaczine nie potrafil jej zamknac w jednym wiazacym slowie. Na pewno slychac tu nieco mechanicznych, industrialnych rytmow znanych z plyt Fear Factory czy Ministry, nieokielznany ped Strapping Young Lad, troche nawiazan do wspomnianego juz Voivod, jednak ten album az roi sie od zaskakujacych rozwiazan. Najlepszm przykladem niech bedzie “9mm Movie”, w ktorym awangardowa partie na altowce nagral Clayton Ingerson z zakreconego tria Dysrythmia. Albo brawurowo wykonany “Warhead” z repertuara Venom. Duzo wniost tez do calosci jazzowy muzyk Loston Harris , ktory ukladal swe palce na klawiszach ubarwiajac plyte roznymi smaczkami, pozomie tyklo nie pasujacymi do tej dzwiekowej ukladanki. Te wszystkie skladniki powiazane z iscie metalowym pazurem daly zaskakujacy efekt, ktory pewnie nie przekona do siebie zatwardzialych ortodoksow takiego czy innego podgatunku, ale przeciez nie tyklo do takich osob kieruje te slowa, prawda?

Grande Rock - (7 out of 10) by George Kouvelis. December 2004

The following trio created the band called Project: Failing Flesh: Eric Forrest (ex-Voivod, E-Force), Tim Gutierrez and Kevin 131. The band uses the thrash metal music as a base and experiments with this sound. Their music is a very good mixture of thrash, death and industrial metal… Their main influences must be Voivod, Fear Factory, Ministry and Strapping Young Lad! The use of instruments like viola, piano and violin add a variety in this album. Anyway the guitars are thrashy and the vocals sound like coming from an oldschool thrash metal band! The 10 tracks included on this CD, have a big variety because some of them have samples and keyboards, others are thrash metal dynamites, others are a fresh mix of trash and industrial metal etc… The final track of this album is a cover of the track “Warhead” (Venom) and sounds very good. The album has a great sound and Kevin 131 together with Tim Gutierrez have made the production. Generally, the album is very interesting and has many fresh and modern ideas. Best tracks: “A Beautiful Sickness”, “9mm Movie”, “Long Silent Voices”, “Taste Of The Lie” and “Highwire Act”.

Metal Only - by Mikael "Miggo" Johansson. December 2004

+ Published in both English and Svenska

Project: Failing Flesh was formed by Kevin 131 and Tim Gutierrez, two Americans that has played a lot together. After a lot of consideration they contacted Eric Forest (vocals, formerly Voivod, E-Force) and the band came to life. Kevin handles the programming which is an important part of the band’s sound. Without that part it is mainly well-executed thrash on offer here with a few modern elements thrown in. The title track starts and ends, the good old rule of making the strongest track the title track is no longer valid. They thrash almost like Flotsam & Jetsam in the nineties but the riffing has company in the shape of programming and Eric’s most suitable voice. In “9 mm Movie” they dare to venture into a violin and a crunchy guitar. “Scene of the Crime” also contains parts of heavy guitars and calm keyboards and it works again. A real favourite is “Long Silent Voices” with dissonant programming and old-school thrash. Then it feels as if “taste of the Lie” is a meeting betwixt Duran Duran and thrash, it is like a laboratory experiment but it is very original. The ending with a cover of Venom's “Warhead” is smashing. It is not in any way a tired repetition. Towards the end they throw in some dialogue from the movie “The Exorcist” which is creative and suiting. This is a very good and creative album for thinking people.

Project: Failing Flesh bildades av Kevin 131 och Tim Gutierrez, två amerikanare som spelat ihop länge. Efter mycket funderande kontaktade de Eric Forest (sång, f.d. Voivod, E-Force) och bandet fick liv. Kevin står för programmeringen som är en viktig del av bandets sound, utan det är det mest välspelad thrash med några få moderna inslag. Titellåten kommer och går, idag är det inte regel att göra starkaste låten till titellåt. De thrashar nästan som Flotsam & Jetsam på 90-talet men riffandet har sällskap av programmeringen och Erics mycket passande röst. I ”9 mm Movie” börjar de ta ut svängarna på allvar med fiol och malande gitarr. ”Scene of the Crime” innehåller också lugna partier med tung gitarr och lugn keyboard och det fungerar igen. En riktig favorit är ”Long Silent Voices” som innehåller dissonant programmering så väl som gammaldags thrash. Sedan känns det som om ”Taste of the Lie” är ett möte mellan Duran Duran och thrash, rena rama laboratorieexperimentet men det är originellt. Avslutningen med en cover på Venom's ”Warhead” är rena drömmen. Det är ingen trött upprepning alls. Mot slutet blandar de t.ex. in dialog från ”Exorcisten” vilket är kreativt och passande. En bra och kreativ platta för tänkande människor.

Metallus - (8 out of 10) by Riccardo Manazza. December 2004

Uno dei più grandi equivoci che accompagna l'heavy metal è quello che vuole il movimento come intrinsecamente tradizionalista. Storicamente, al contrario, il genere ha vissuto per gran parte della sua esistenza su continue e repentine rivoluzioni stilistiche che hanno sommato spinte progressiste e innovative al substrato preesistente creando sincretismi e innesti improbabili. Tutto questo almeno fino alla metà dello scorso decennio quando la distanza tra i sottogeneri ha reso la sperimentazione una nicchia per pochi. Questa digressione introduttiva ci serve per inquadrare con esattezza la proposta dell'ex Voivod Eric Forrest e dei Project: Failing Flesh (formati da Tim Gutierrez e Kevin131). Si tratta infatti di un'opera che si riallaccia idealmente a quel momento ' futurista' che investì il metallo all'inizio degli anni novanta: un ibrido di tecnologia e violenza tribale che trovava la sua espressione nel post-thrash industriale dei Voivod di 'Negatron' (prevedibilmente), nei Kreator di 'Renewal', nei Fear Factory e nei Sepultura di 'Chaos A.D.', senza tralasciare band di culto come Treponem Pal, Prong e Obliveon. 'A Beautiful Sickness' mostra semplicemente una nuova trasposizione del programma originale; un songwriting essenziale, ma per nulla scontato, trascina l'ascoltatore per lande desolate dall'arrivo di mostruose macchine da guerra, in laboratori dove si eseguono esperimenti aberranti o in mondi stravolti e sregolati degni delle visioni lovecraftiane. A modo di un classico riscritto della fantascienza quest'opera racchiude in se stilemi acquisiti e slanci sperimentali che sopraggiungono inaspettati come gli inserti squinternati di archi e pianoforte in 'Long Silent Voices'. Inusuale appare anche l'uso delle tastiere, chiamate spesso ad interventi di rifinitura e arrangiamento, ma assolutamente protagoniste per l'effetto straniante che donano all'ascolto. E poi chiudere con una marziale cover di 'Warhead' è esattamente quanto ci si aspetta da un combo di metallari senza ritegno. Approvato.

Spot - (4 out of 6) by Kristian E. Anderson. 2004

Tim Gutierrez og hans kompanjong Kevin 131 har slått sine pjalter sammen og kalt seg noe så enkelt og optimistisk som Project: Failing Flesh. Om dette er et lass med daukjøtt eller ikke, finner du ut ved å lese videre.

Med seg på laget har de fått med seg Eric Forrest (vokalist i E-Force, tidligere skrikhals i Voivod) og nå er de altså klare til å erobre verden med sitt barn, som er døpt A Beautiful Sickness. Her snakker vi medisinfetishisme på høyt plan, stort sett alle tekstene handler om ett eller annet som er sykdomsrelatert. Det gir en litt spesiell og kanskje utilsiktet futuristisk stemning på det hele.

Det er lenge siden jeg har måttet jobbe så lenge med ei skive før den satt ordentlig, det tok evigheter og gjentatte runder i spilleren før jeg i det hele tatt greide å bestemme meg for hva jeg skulle synes om dette. Etter en tid løsnet det litt, jeg fikk litt mer tak på låtene og ble mer kjent med arrangementene. Da begynte detaljene å stikke seg litt mer frem, jeg oppdaget nye aspekter ved låtene for hver gang og ble etter hvert riktig så glad i denne skiva. Da får det være at jeg brukte litt lengre tid enn jeg egentlig har til rådighet. Man har da andre plater å vurdere også.

Nok om det, her er det Project: Failing Flesh (heretter kalt ”gutta”) som gjelder. De har nemlig levert ei riktig så bra skive. Den er jevnt over variert og fin, du får servert det meste fra hesblesende og fet thrash til mer klassiske heavy-liknende partier. I starten kan temaskiftene og de progga elementene virke litt masete men etter at man blir litt mer kjent med låtene faller alt på plass og man blir sittende og kose seg og til tider digge rått det som blir servert.

Hele skiva jevnt over er bra, dog med noen litt vel anonyme låter her og der som trekker ned, men det blir aldri helt og fullstendig gripende kjedelig. Jeg kan si så mye at de tre første låtene er gode valg til starten av ei skive og setter en fin stemning for resten av herligheten, den seige og smårare 9mm Movie stikker seg litt frem fra mengden her på måten gutta løser ting på. Dette er seigt, suggererende og tungt og får deg til å drømme deg langt bort fra den harde virkeligheten. I mine øyne er det bare èn ting som kan gjøre denne låta bedre; om gutta skyter fiolinisten de har sluppet til. Makan til malplassert og surt felespill som er lagt på slutten her skal man lete lenge etter. Starten på felesoloen er grei nok men når det utarter seg til urytmisk og (tilsynelatende) ukontrollert harving ødelegger det for helheten i låta. Synd, for den er virkelig bra.

Min personlige favoritt på A Beautiful Sickness er den niende låten, Highwire Act. Den begynner med hyperblasting og et tempo 1349 verdig og du tenker ”jaja, da skal gutta pøve seg på svartmetall ja…” men du blir raskt satt på plass igjen. For etter kort tid med sinnsykt tempo stopper trommene og et av de tøffeste og barskeste riffene jeg har hørt på lenge smyger seg inn i øregangene og kiler deg i hjerebarken. Og hele låta er tvers gjennom skamfet, den er stappfull av attidude, har en gyngende og lett truende groove som river deg med og virkelig byr opp til nakkesleng og moro. Helt vanvittig, første gang jeg hørte låta måtte jeg bare sitte og le for meg selv. DA er det fett da.

Helt til slutt får vi servert en hederlig versjon av Venoms Warhead. Hederlig gjennomført, bra låt. Verken mer eller mindre.

Alt i alt er dette ei skive jeg anbefaler for de som liker å bli utfordret litt, for dette er ikke en plate som setter seg helt med en gang. Høydepunktene kommer relativt kjapt men helheten kan man være nødt til å jobbe litt for å få fullstendig grep på. Men for deg som liker metallen sin variert, litt progga og thrasha vil jeg tro at A Beautiful Sickness vil sørge for mange trivelige høstkvelder i sofakroken med kaffekoppen og anlegget.

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