REVIEWS - "Count Back From Ten" CD (page 1)
page (1) (2)
Peacedogman.com - (4.5 out of 5) by Russ Cardona. September 2010
If the past few years yielded
a light harvest of high-quality metal, then 2010 is doing its damnedest to make
up for lost time. In a year that's given us superb releases from acts such as
Armored Saint, Burzum, Blind Guardian, Nevermore and Death Angel just to name a
few, there's no doubt gonna be bloodshed once folks start writing their Best of
the Year lists. Yet another name to add to that list is Virginia's Project:
Failing Flesh. Their two previous albums got glowing reviews from the Dogsite,
and after a three-year wait, they're about to receive another one. Their unique
union of 90s extreme metal and Voivod-level lunacy is as brilliant as ever, yet
the song variety of "Count Back from Ten" may finally yield them the big break
they so rightly deserve.
As usual, brothers Tim Gutierrez and Kevin 131 go above and beyond to keep
energy levels high and comfort levels low, and the vocal delivery of Eric
"E-Force" Forrest hits harder than a crash of rhinos. Since a complete recount
of every experimental surprise held within would not only be a disservice to
fans but would also be impossible, a brief song-by-song summary will have to do.
The title track is as close to entry-level as you're gonna get from these guys,
with the tribal percussion, crushing C-tuned riffs and chaotic synth giving
listeners as least a small taste of what they can expect. "White Light Response"
can only justly be described as primal brutality fueled by brain-blowing blast
beats, yet one track later sees the band halt to a Godflesh-like crawl with
"Inanimate Objects," as the slowed-down tape effect on the guitars feels like
being pulled through a dimensional portal. From there, "Lose-Lose Situation"
manages to squeeze thrash tempos, "Dimension Hatross" -esque breakdowns and
digital voice manipulation into just shy of 4 and a half minutes. What follows
is a sensationally accurate Prong cover ("Irrational Thoughts") and the
shockingly bouncy feel of "Patient Zero," a track that actually manages to
successfully combine metal with early 80s pop! Yeah, they're good. Then we have
even more thrash mixed with digital tomfoolery with "The Potential To…" and what
sounds like high school drum line accompaniment in "Percussion Fracture."
Finally, there's industrial pulled from the heart of Hell ("Cadence") and,
closing things out, a haunting yet hellacious track that shows Eric Forrest
doing his best Ozzy impersonation ("The Void Between Skin and Bone").
Honestly, the only remotely negative thing to say about this one is that,
considering how long we've waited, "Count Back from Ten" is a wee on the short
side at less than 40 minutes. By no means, though, does this keep the album from
being one of the best of the year. Besides, anyone who really has that much of a
problem with that can re-press the Play button and uncover more madness behind
the method. Fans of anything heavy or avant-garde, pay attention: If the spirit
is willing, the FLESH is strong!
MTUK Metal zine - by Pete Woods. August 2010
I had been hearing rumours of
further musical experiments from Project Failing Flesh when lo and behold album
number three landed on the mat with a solid thunk and I saw the postman shuffle
off, gazing at his hand, which was now glowing with a sickly radiating shade of
green. That’ll teach the thieving bastard was my main thought as I went to plop
this in the CD player, expectant and looking forward to an album of industrial
mayhem. This band is a collaboration between the instrumental side, Brothers Tim
Gutierrez and Kevin 131 located in Virginia USA and singer Eric Forrest in
France. Of course you should recognize his name from time served in Voivod as
well as in his other band E-Force. Following on from 2007s’ excellent ‘The
Conjoined’ the band’s former Greek label bit the dust leaving them without a
home. I suspect that the new label Ototrauma may well be a self released sort of
thing too and cannot believe how this excellent band have not been picked up by
someone bigger.
It’s like stepping on deck of a fast space ship and immediately spiraling up
into the stratosphere as we are launched into the opening and title track.
Excuse me but there is no bloody time to count to ten here. A tribal drumming
beat and sci-fi space enhanced effects bristle and the vocals are gravid and
instantly in your face. They distort, mangled through some effects unit and go
Cylon (original Battlestar Galactica, fact fans) on us as the guitar rages
around them. ‘White Light Response’ shows just how eclectic / unhinged the
musicians behind this are. As it flies away at a manic velocity on full rage
(think 28 Days later rabidity) they drop some skewed piano into the mix and slow
it down. It’s a real cartoonish violence and they could easily have dropped a
piano with Acme written in big letters on our heads the way it gets you.
Lurching, seasick rhythms distort and fragment into ‘Inanimate Objects’ there is
a very experimental vibe going down here as though the musicians are conducting
some sort of sonic experimentation within deep underground labs (you are safe,
they don’t quite find the brown note). Drills whir away on ‘Irrelevant Thoughts’
kind of like a particularly bad trip to the dentists, its gonna set your teeth
on edge that’s for sure but those of you really on your toes could escape root
canal by realizing that this one is a cover of the Prong song. ‘Patient Zero’ is
a lot quirkier with an almost jolly guitar signature playing around on it before
warped vocals sound like a Cylon has now discovered Valium and is wobbling
around. Breaking from the norm again, sees clean vocals and some xylophone
making ‘The Potential To…’ just plain odd. ‘Cadence’ is possibly my favourite, a
full on machine of rage, terminating as it splits flesh and mangles bone like
some Japanese hyper kinetic blood fest. This is the track that is going to make
potential labels and people sit up and take notice as it hits like a
sledgehammer to the balls.
There is a lot going on here despite the fairly brief running time of 39
minutes. This kind of left me hungering for that bit more but I also got the
impression that the band had got out whilst the going was good, having done the
job at hand. I really want to see P:FF getting more attention especially as live
dates are difficult if not pretty damn impossible with the collaborators being
so far apart. If this has hungered your appetite, taste the flesh at the
following locations – (website info)
Soulkiller - by Neil Blevins. August 2010
Another solid release from the band. They sure know how to keep things interesting. The first track is sort of tribal / industrial with some good pounding drums. Track 2, 'White Light Response' (my favorite on the album), is the speediest song, with some good blast beats and excellent thrashy riffs. And just when you think the track is a pretty straight forward song, they add a few odd piano samples in there that compliment the music perfectly. Track 3 is just the slowest, sludgiest thing, which uses the whammy bar (or is it the pedal?) to great effect. The slow pace also gives the album a good breathing spot after the first two faster tunes. I won't go into details on every song, but you get the idea, lots of variety and each song is definitely its own thing. The only other track I'll mention is a cover of Prong's 'Irrelevant Thoughts', it's well done, although I wish the band had modified it a bit more and gotten a little more experimental with it. I also got a bit of a laugh when I realized that Prong comes right after Project: Failing Flesh alphabetically in my itunes, so I can play either this version or the original without the need to scroll. The production, as always, is excellent. If you like something a little thrashy/industrial with some groove, and just a touch experimental, I definitely recommend this album, it's really enjoyable.
Silent Scream - (8 out of 10) by Fulvio Adile. August 2010
Io mi sento particolarmente legato ai Project: Failing Flesh. E' il gruppo emergente che, negli ultimi dieci anni, mi ha esaltato di piů, assieme ai Mael Mordha (recentemente un po' decaduti, a dire il vero) ed ai The Monolith Deathcult (solo di recente diventati grandissimi), anche perché occupano una ben precisa nicchia musicale che mi sta molto a cuore: quella dei Voivod di “Negatron” e “Phobos”. I Project: Failing Flesh, infatti, suonano una forma di thrash particolarmente duro, a tratti ai limiti del death, infarcito di atmosfere apocalittiche di stampo industriale come oggi in pochissimi fanno (ricordiamo anche i The Project Hate MCMXCIX). A differenza della band del compianto Piggy, perň, i Project: Failing Flesh non si limitano all'uso dell'effettistica di chitarra, ma ricorrono continuamente all'elettronica, creando cosě un impasto cibernetico che richiede un attento ascolto con le cuffie per potere essere apprezzato appieno. Da questo punto di vista “Count Back...” conserva la perfezione di arrangiamenti che aveva decretato il successo di “The Conjoined”, cosě come mantiene anche la stessa variegata tensione compositiva. Pur avendo una sua identitŕ molto marcata e ben precisa, infatti, questo loro terzo lavoro riesce a sguazzare in lungo ed in largo, sfruttando tutte le potenzialitŕ del loro sound: tempi medi titanici, blast-beat feroci, up-tempos, intermezzi noise, pause gommose e doom, sprazzi di melodia anche vocale. Da questo punto di vista non possiamo che lodare per l'ennesima volta la prova al microfono di Eric Forrest, vocalist incisivo e variegato come pochissimi, dispiace solo che le sue corde vocali melodiche non vengano sfruttate a dovere, essendo davvero bravo anche sotto questo profilo. Dirompente al primo ascolto superficiale, intrigante sul lungo periodo, “Count Back...” č veramente un disco bellissimo, che come gli altri due lascerŕ il segno.
Femforgacs - (9.6 out of 10) by Emp. November 2010
Van ez a két amerikai srác, Tim Gutierrez és Kevin 131. Ők egyébként testvérek. Illetve Eric Forrest, aki az E-Force-ból és a Voivodból lehet ismerős sokaknak. Az a hír járja, hogy ez a három bomlott egyén titokban emberkísérleteket végez, valahol egy távoli farmon. Állítólag az elmén folytatnak behatásos vizsgálatokat. Konkrét bizonyítékok a környéken történt eltűnéseken kívül nincsenek, bár a Count Back From Ten már a harmadik publikációjuk a házi laboratórium eredményeiből. Nos ahogy az öntörvényű vegyészmérnököktől elvárható a hátsó kert kis fa bungalója alá rejtett laborból kikerült feljegyzések és kísérleti eredmények meghökkentők, sokszor zavarba ejtők, és ahogy a ’pi’ megfejtése is életveszélyes küldetés – mint ahogy azt láthattuk egy hasonlóan elborult testvérpár tollából – így a Count Back From Ten is igazából csak egy igényes külsőbe csomagolt (Dr. Pataki Zoltán lélekpatológus munkája) csapda. Egy átverés…
Szépen értelmez, okoskodik az ember, belebonyolódik a képletekbe. Naphosszat jegyzetel, szép lassan elfordul a külvilágtól és észre sem veszi, hogy már nem az ágyában, hanem a műtőasztalon fekszik és három őrült doki sertepertél körülötte. Természetesen az anesztes vicces kedvében higította az altatógázt, így bár mozogni nem tudunk, azért a szike hidegét az emlékek kifacsart vízióival megfűszerezve mindvégig érezni fogjuk. És a szike vág, a csontfűrész felpörög. A három műkedvelő vegyész - korboncnok pedig élvezettel babrál magatehetetlen testünkön. Hol metsző thrashes riffözönnel, hol agresszív ipari darálóval, hol pedig totális bekattanással molyolnak valami véres kis cafaton. Szaggatnak, pusztítanak, újraértelmeznek és alkotnak. Lassan a fájdalomtól eltorzult arccal oldalra pillantva az ódon pince egyik dohos falához applikált kis vitrinben olyan kémcsöveket pillantunk meg, amikben szépen elkülönítve megtalálható a Slayer esszencia, a Thy Disease párlat, a Voivod kivonat, a Prong vegyület, egy cseppnyi Cavalera örlemény és egy nagyon nagy adag Melvins aroma. A félig nyitott komód aljából pedig egy formalinos edény oldalán a „Lombardo keze” felirat olvasható elmosódottan. Természetesen a testbe fecskendezett kísérleti anyagok receptje már tökéletes házi mestermű. Kétségünk sem lehet affelöl, hogy az eredmény csak is egy ocsmány torzszülött lehet, így amikor majd a tükröt elénk tartják, garantáltan visítunk a rémülettől.
Az ébredés után szúró kín, undor és valami kátrányos szélű sárga tályog képe vár ránk. A három orvos pedig majd mosolyogva fogad a lábadozóban. A műtétet sikeresnek könyvelik el és ahogy távoznak a vizitről, és minket ismét elfog az émelygés a látottak felidézésétől, még a következő beszédfoszlány jut el agyunkhoz az ájulás előtt:
-Gratulálok Eric!
-Gratulálok Gutierrez doktor urak!
-Ismét sikeresen végrehajtottuk a lélekfelnyitás kényes procedúráját.
-Igen, a szövődmények elkerülhetetlenek, de a páciens szempontjából ez
másodlagos.
-A lényeg, hogy a szembesítés megtörtént. Kérem készítsék elő a következő
beteget.
Metalcore - by Chris Forbes. October 2010
This is a new release from these guys and another good one from this band. They combine some hard hitting metal with some industrial sounds and it sounded good to my ears. Sort of like Ministry at times. The singer growls and screams with all his might during these tunes and his voice and style fit the music. Production on this is strong and the music is just hard hitting and at times fast and this works for me.
Myglobalmind - (8 out of 10) by Zee Zee Dawson. October 2010
Sometimes I’m surprised how
certain bands can fly under my radar so badly. It’s not that I think I am the
most knowledgeable music listener in the world, but when I discover bands such
as Project: Failing Flesh it truly surprises me. For one, they have actually
been around for quite a while now, with Count Back From Ten actually being their
third album. For two, they are a really, really good progressive thrash metal
band which is a genre I usually follow pretty closely. And for three, the band
features Eric Forrest on lead vocals. For those that don’t recognize the name,
Forrest was the guy who replaced Voivod vocalist Denis Belanger for two albums
in the late nineties. Now, Voivod are one of my all-time favorite bands, and
while the tow albums Forrest did with them, 1995’s Negatron and 1997’s Phobos
may not have received the critical acclaim of the band’s earlier albums, I was a
big fan of them and though Eric Forrest did a tremendous job in bringing them
into the modern age with a bit of a heavier edge to their original sound.
The reason I make mention of this so much is that when I listen to Count Back
From Ten, it gives me similar feeling I had when listening to those older albums
and they actually compare relatively closely. The album is certainly based in
the traditional thrash vein, but there is also a modern aggressiveness not
usually found on a thrash album, there are also some industrial influences and
some electronic parts too. Unlike a lot of releases though, the added electronic
parts are not too obtrusive and do add some spark to some of the songs, but not
so much that it will turn you off if you don’t like electronic additions.
I’d love to be able to say that the entire album was full of highlights, but
there are a few songs that I felt weren’t quite up to scratch, but there is
quite a few that are good enough for highlight status. Inanimate Objects,
Irrelevant Thoughts and Patient Zero all show a band that knows how to make a
crazy mess into something completely legible and totally enjoyable, but there’s
just no going past The Potential To.. which has all the makings of a world class
metal song that should appeal to fans of many different styles.
Count Back From Ten may not be for everybody, with it’s combination of modern
thrash metal mixed with some electronica moments sure to turn off many, but for
those with a bit of an open mind, definitely check this one out.
Lords Of Metal - by Richard G. September 2010
+ in both English and Dutch.
Nowadays there seem to be two
options for a thrash band: you are either a group of old guys from the 80s
(Slayer, Exodus), or you are a group of young guys that sounds like you are from
the 80s (Bonded By Blood, Municipal Waste, etc.). The first category cannot
really help it, but the second category on the other hand... Why would you want
to make music that sounds exactly like the music twenty-five years ago, a time
in which you were almost totally dependent on your parents for musical input?
Come on be honest, just how many of your friend's parents actually possessed
'Kill 'em All', 'Bonded By Blood' or 'Show No Mercy'?
Fortunately there are still bands out there who do not join in on the false
nostalgia and who are not afraid of writing riffs that have not been recorded a
hundred times already. Fortunately there are still bands out there like Project:
Failing Flesh. Not that these Americans reinvent the wheel or anything on their
third full-length 'Count Back From ten'. Groups like Voivod, Alchemist and Prong
have been known to flirt with industrial, keyboard sounds and samples. But still
the ten tracks at offer here sound a thousand times more exciting than all those
so called retro thrashers piled together. This experimental mixture of crunchy
Prong riffs, keyboards sounding like lasers and the roughly screamed vocals by
Eric Forrest (indeed, the ex-Voivod one) leads to an interesting brand of thrash
that one does not feel bored by after five minutes. A song like 'The Potential
To...' could have been featured even on one of the first fear Factory records
(until that weird break with a choir sample kicks in, that is).
It is a pity for Project: Failing Flesh, but judging by the popularity of retro
thrash, I am afraid that not a lot of people will be interested in their
creative escapades.
Als thrash band lijk je
vandaag de dag maar twee opties te hebben: of je komt uit de jaren 80 (Slayer,
Exodus), of je klinkt alsof je uit de jaren 80 komt (Bonded By Blood, Municipal
Waste). De eerste categorie valt niet veel te verwijten, die tweede categorie
daarentegen wel. Waarom zou je muziek willen maken die precies klinkt als muziek
van vijfentwintig jaar geleden, een tijd waarin je muzikale input vrijwel
volledig afhing van de smaak van je ouders? En wees eens eerlijk: hoeveel
vriendjes had je nou eigenlijk echt wiens ouders 'Kill 'm All', 'Bonded By
Blood' en 'Show No Mercy' in de kast hadden staan?
Gelukkig zijn er ook nog bands die niet meedoen aan die valse nostalgie en die
het wel aandurven om riffs te schrijven die niet al honderd keer herkauwd zijn,
gelukkig zijn er ook nog bands zoals Project: Failing Flesh. Niet dat de
Amerikanen het wiel opnieuw uitvinden op hun derde langspeler 'Count Back From
Ten'. Geflirt met industrial, keyboards en samples kennen we tenslotte ook al
van groepen als Voivod, Alchemist en Prong. Toch klinken de tien futuristisch
klinkende nummers duizend keer spannender dan al het materiaal van al die
zogenaamde thrash revival bands bij elkaar opgeteld. Met de crunchy riffs van
Prong, keyboards die als lasers klinken en de ruig geschreeuwde vocalen van Eric
Forrest (inderdaad ex-Voivod) wordt een experimentele thrash vorm gesmeed die
redelijk weet te boeien. Een nummer als 'The Potential To...' had zelfs op de
eerste van Fear Factory kunnen staan, totdat de vage break met koorsamples zich
aandient.
Het is jammer voor de band, maar gezien de populariteit van retrothrash ben ik
bang dat er maar bar weinig mensen geďnteresseerd zijn in hun creatieve
escapades.
Evilized.de - by Wolfsblut. October 2010
Selten brechen Musiker aus
den bekannten Bahnen aus, experimentieren wild mit verschiedenen Klängen und
mischen verschiedenste, auf den ersten Blick nicht kombinierbare Elemente.
Passiert dies doch wird Mut und Hingabe zumeist mit niederschmetternden
Rezensionen belohnt. Nicht so bei Project: Failing Flesh. Zwei von der
Fachpresse fabelhaft angenommene Langspieler hat das amerikanische Trio bereits
veröffentlicht, das dritte Werk mit dem etwas ungewöhnlichen Titel „Count Back
From Ten“ steht in den Startlöchern.
Verschiedenste Eindrücke
prasseln im Verlauf der 39 Spielminuten auf den Hörer ein. Elektronische
Elemente vermengen sich mit Maschinengeräuschen, Thrash Metal Riffs
agglomerieren untrennbar mit modernem Metal, aggressive Shouts paaren sich
harmonisch mit ungewöhnlichem Klargesangspassagen, Blast-Beats zerfetzen die
Stille. „Count Back From Ten“ ist alles und nichts. Die Klangkunst von Project:
Failing Flesh in Worte zu fassen fällt schwer, zu vielseitig und einzigartig ist
das gebotene Material. Auf zehn Stücken verprassen die beiden virtuosen Multi-Instrumentalisten
„Tim Gutierrez“ & „Kevin 131“ jede Menge hochwertige Riffs und neuartige Ideen
gehüllt in ein druckvolles Klanggewand. Fronter „Eric Forrest“ agiert variabel
und tight, wirkt jedoch stellenweise wenig dynamisch. Der Einzigartigkeit von
„Count Back From Ten“ tut dies allerdings keinen Abbruch.
Mit ihrem dritten Werk ist Project: Failing Flesh ein umwerfendes, stets überraschendes Werk modernen Metals gelungen. Aufgeschlossene Zeitgenossen die Freude an klangintensivem Hartmetal haben sollten diese Scheibe auf schnellstem Wege antesten. „Count Back From Ten“ ist definitiv ein Erlebnis.
Friedhof - (8 out of 10) bv Kramthal. November 2010
Tercer trabajo de los
americanos residentes en Virginia Project: Failing Flesh. Una nueva entrega que
no supone notables diferencias con su predecesor “The Conjoined”. Metal extremo
industrial, electrónico… Thrash y Death Metal de la era digital, de las
modulaciones, cambios de frecuencia, samples y sonidos sintéticos… una mezcla
con un resultado explosivo y una fuerza arrolladora… salvo que está
exclusivamente dirigido a todos oído libre de cualquier carga “idealista
metalera”. Puesto que no es un género muy extendido –al menos en nuestro
webzine-, pero sí conocido por sus controvertidas “alteraciones”, solo se me
ocurren bandas que difícilmente no habréis escuchado como pueden ser Fear
Factory o Machine Head y de otras más próximas a lo que tenemos entre manos como
son Prong (de los que incluyen una versión). Tampoco quiero que penséis que son
una banda donde prima el sonido industrializado. “Count Back From Ten” es un CD
de Metal Extremo, principalmente de Thrash Metal con nivel de agresividad y
experimentación muy superior al de las referencias mencionadas. Su espectro
musical abarca géneros que a priori no encajarían ni con calzo. La retahíla de
blast beats que nos sueltan alguna que otra vez bien podría pertenecer a ciertas
bandas de Hardcore. Eric Forrest, de los Voivod y E-Force, nos presenta a las
voces diferentes registros, uno más extendido como es el rajado de entonación
grave, sin llegar a cotas guturales, algunas voces limpias y otras menos
importantes alteradas digitalmente. Seguramente no os sorprenderá. En menor
medida mantienen los sonidos mórbidos y la atmósfera lúgubre de “The Conjoined”,
y hasta cierto punto podría recordar a los últimos trabajos de los noruegos
Morgul, aunque de forma general las aportaciones menos ortodoxas se reparten
exclusivamente por cada tema.
Me alegra ver que no tienen los escarceos discotequeros (al menos no tan
desagradables) de su anterior trabajo aunque de forma global podríamos decir que
“Count Back From Ten” es una continuación lógica sin sorpresas.
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