REVIEWS - "The Conjoined" CD (page 2)

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Smother.net - (editor's pick) by J-Sin. June 2007

Thank you Project: Failing Flesh for putting Northern Virginia on the map for extreme metal! Having done amazing things like their incredible cover of Venom’s “Warhead” and being spotlighted on a variety of compilations, Project: Failing Flesh write brutal metal opuses that are incredibly fast, aggressive, and violent all the while maintaining a sick sense of technicality that most other bands forgo. In addition, Eric Forrest (ex-Voivod, E-Force) is on vocals and has given them some well-deserved name recognition already in the metal community. Chaotic song structures and discordant harmonies are the backdrop to the twisted guitars and amazing musicianship.

Soul Killer - by Neil Blevins. May 2007

There's gotta be nothing worse than having a completed album who's release date just keeps getting pushed back. With an originally intended release date of Spring 2006, "The Conjoined" is finally available for mass consumption over a year later, and the results are pretty darn cool. First off, the production on this CD is bigger than their last. Perhaps its a few extra overdubs, or just a touch of reverb, but the guitar sound on this cd isn't as dry as on "A Beautiful Sickness" (not that the old production was bad, it's just if you're gonna change things, this was a cool way to change 'em). Otherwise, it's pretty similar to their debut. This band has a solid math metal / thrash foundation, and on top they experiment with strings, horns, keyboards, and various synth sounds. But the thing I really like about this CD is they rarely let the experimentation get out of hand. The weirdness tends to complement the songs, instead of hijacking them. My current favorite track is 'Surface Noise', which has this awesome sludgy riff which is doubled on horns. The speedy album opener 'Final Act Of Treachery' is a nice one as well. Perhaps another fast song in the middle would have helped the pacing a bit, but otherwise things flow pretty well. If you enjoy thrash or math metal, and enjoy a band that's trying something a little different, check this cd out, it's impressive stuff.

Metal Temple - (4 out of 5) by Yiannis D. June 2007

Who is aware of someone that is mentioned in the line up? Let me see some hands raised! No one? Come on! That’s better! Ladies and gentlemen, let me present you Mr. Eric Forrest’s latest achievement, Project: Failing Flesh. Remember this name, because as it seems you will come across it many times in the near future.

Eric Forest (ex-Voivod, E-Force) is a man who really knows what to do when it comes to heavy fucking music! The band was formed in 2001 by Gutierrez and Kevin 131 and the line up was later completed with the addition of Forrest. The band’s debut release was 2003’s "A Beautiful Sickness", which was self produced. In September of 2003, the band managed to sign a contract with Karmageddon Media, the label that filtered the "A Beautiful Sickness" sessions through the unsuspecting extreme music network.

In 2006, the band signed a contract with the Greek label Burning Star, to release its second full-length effort entitled "The Conjoined". What do Project: Failing Flesh have to offer to the 21st century’s Metal scene? This is something we will have to find out. For all of the people that do not know this band, Project: Failing Flesh is an experimental Death Metal band, that doesn’t hesitate to mix their "native" music with Industrial elements and many more stuff. The best characterization I have heard for this band is that if Voivod were a Death Metal band, this is what they would play. I have to say that I agree with this statement. Their Godflesh meets Fear Factory meets Meshuggah meets Grip Inc. style will not let you get bored even for a second. Forrest screams the shit out of him while the other two guys are tearing the place apart with their eleven kick-ass compositions! Everything seems to have been taken care of in a more than clever way. The order of the tracks, the duration, as well as the whole structure of this album has been carefully "designed". The duration is (in my humble opinion) exactly as long as it should be so the listener doesn’t get tired. The only think that someone may ask for is more! The production has been done by the band itself, if I am not mistaken, at the Assembly Line Studios that Kevin (band’s member) owns. Add to all of the above the killer artwork and you may get an "image" of "The Conjoined".

Do NOT make the mistake to think that Project: Failing Flesh is a project! We are talking about a full functional band that just released its second album and shows that this is just the start. I think that Project: Failing Flesh have some more good stuff to show us! We just have to follow them at every step they make!

Metalfan.nl - (88 out of 100) by Kristof. June 2007

Er is niets mis met typische genreplaten, maar het doet toch wel erg deugd als er nog eens een album op de markt komt die echt verrast. Deze maand moet je daarvoor bij het Amerikaanse Project: Failing Flesh zijn die met The Conjoined haar tweede plaat aflevert. De basis van de muziek is thrash, maar er komen geweldige zijstapjes naar technische death, progressieve metal en zelfs avantgarde langs. Het is dan ook niet verwonderlijk dat dit trio naast Tim Gutierrez en Kevin 131 uit Voivod tussenpaus Eric Forrest bestaat.

Je moet wel even voor de muziek gaan zitten want de tegendraadse riffs en flexibele tempowisselingen wisselen elkaar in moordend tempo op. Zo begint opener Final Act Of Treachery bijvoorbeeld als een Grip Inc.-achtige song om daarna met een Voivod-refrein uit te pakken en te eindigen in een geweldige finale. Tijdens elke song komt er ook een avantgarde-achtige passage langs. Soms puur elektronisch, soms door vaag pianospel, maar soms ook door een heuse saxofoon die het titelnummer een jazz-feeling meegeeft.

De eerste keer dat je dit album luistert, zal je gegarandeerd hoofdpijn krijgen. Maar alle volgende luisterbeurten zullen interessant én lekker zijn. Aanrader voor muziekonauten.

Behind the Veil - (8 out of 10) by Theodore  Deligannidis. May 2007

I give you Project: Failing Flesh. A project sworn to turn your audition upside down! Here comes April 2007 and I have “The Conjoined” in my stereo! This is the band’s second release. It contains 11 black-death/core/experimental themes. Although the band flows in the new era of extreme metal scene, they have a strange way of having their own originality & musicianship. The production is carefully planned giving a taste of evolution between the tracks. Opening with the first track  “Final Act Of Treachery” the time stops, for about 4 minutes, breaking in pieces, creating death melodies and continuous hate flowing around the track, as the band shows off their blasting skills that continue to the next two tracks focused, regenerated and more organized. The title song of the album “The Conjoined” is a mid tempo tech-dream piercing your perception over to the band’s dark side which is very interesting and addictive! And now to my personal favorite song: “Motionless”. The introduction to this song stands a huge entrance to what is to come! Great vocals and mean lines coming out of all the instruments maintaining a good balance! The parts are properly separated and played faultlessly getting you crazy and then calming you down to a warm bass outro that makes you a sick addict… OK now let's move on and discover the great introduction called “Unsight Unseen”, a theme full of melody and questions driving you down to confusion, as we make our way to the “Eve Of Demise”. This track differs from the others by grasping modern black metal outbreaks, similar to those of Cradle of Filth with synth transformations and hellish blastbeats, but also reveals the band’s intelligence in composing different styles of playing around the main core without losing their origin. Making my way through the remaining tracks I get the feeling that the intentions are raw and keep blasting forward! The vocals flow around the changes of each song giving a great combined outcome. They are a thorough mixture of brutal parts defined by a chaotic depth, as Project: Failing Flesh seems to be influenced by bands like Cradle of Filth, Decapitated, Pantera, Devildriver and Dimmu Borgir. The guitars are heavily distorted but very well joined along with melodies and razor sharp changes. The absence of guitar/synth solos is negligible, as the evil presence of violins, cello, synth and wind instruments give a closer feeling to the band’s attitude. The bass lines follow the riffs carefully within borders of patience, waiting for an outbreak to come. As for the bass playing along with the guitar, it gives a technical touch to the composition by choosing short themes that are rather tedious. Closing with the last track called: “The Hand That You’ve Been Dealt”, I will say a few words about the drums. The drums are set to a colorful variety of sounds throughout the composition, using thrash-death metal ideas and a general prog- style of playing along with hardcore and industrial views. The main character that defines Project: Failing Flesh on “The Conjoined” is that they have completed a 40-minute metal piece of hard work that consumes everything in time! You really have to buy this album and have it in your collection! I give you no other reason than… “LISTEN TO IT FIRST… IT WILL CERTAINLY SURPRISE YOU” and once you get addicted you’ll beg for more!  \m/ I wish I have the chance to see you guys in Greece, stay brutal and embrace us with a new Project exposure.

IndustrializedMetal.tk - (88 out of 100) by Gerardo Insua. June 2007

Project: Failing Flesh is a trio hailing from the States. Some of you might remember this band because of their first album ‘A Beautiful Sickness’, which was released in 2004 by Karmageddon Media. I am not one of them, and since the biography that was included is filled with vague terms instead of information about their music style, influences, etc. I did some research. According to their MySpace profile, this band has many different influences from Joy Division to Dismember and from Iggy and the Stooges to Venom (just to name a few bands out of the impressive list). This brought quite some curiousity in my mind. ‘The Conjoined’ is the 2nd album of Project: Failing Flesh (P:FF) and is released in 2007 by the Greek label Burning Star Records.

‘Final Act of Treachery’ is the first track of the album. It includes hyperactive double bass drumming, heavy guitarlines and wellplaced keyparts. The surprisingly cool vocals (a little raw but still sensitive at times) fit well to the track. ‘Through The Broken Lens’ consists of HC likely distorted guitarwork, a variative bassline and powerful drums. The diversity of the vocals are well used on this track. ‘Regenerate’ comes next. Its a cool midtempo industrial metal track, with some wicked guitar- and drumparts. Some wellplaced keyparts give the “intermezzo” a nice atmosphere. Next up is the title track of the album. It starts with some marching drums and a loud bassline, but when the song goes on it gives me one surprise after another. Some trumpets and horns (!) are to be found here and there, and with the lower clean vocal parts it almost looks like I’m listening to Burton C. Bell. ‘Motionless’ comes next, which is more uptempo than the previous song. It consists of straight to the point drumparts, modern guitarwork and different styles of vocal parts. ‘Unsight Unseen’ is an instrumental track (with a little theatrical sounding), and ‘Eve of Demise’ follows. This is a cool, fast track with black and thrash metal guitarwork mixed with modern and wicked drumming. ‘Synesthesia’ is a track that confirms the old school influences of this band. Stuff like Black Sabbath, Serpentcult and maybe even a little Type O Negative come in mind, but its all a bit modernized with some killer vocal works. ‘Second Impact Syndrome’ is again more HC and thrash metal based, with fast double bass drumming and the typical guitarwork. Eric Forrest (the vocalist) proves with this track that he is well able to do different metal styles, which gets confirmed with some surprisingly cool clean vocal parts. ‘Surface Noise’ brings us the return of the trumpets. Furthermore, this is more of an old school track with heavy guitars and typical old school drumming. ‘The Hand That You've Been Dealt’ is the final track of the release. Its a mix of modern metalcore with industrial death metal, with some surprisingly fresh guitarparts here and there.

As you have read in the review, there’s clearly no variation missing on this album. P:FF manages to bring different worlds all together like it’s a common thing, and has the power to make it sound more than decent. Fans of bands like Malmonde, Hypnosis, Violent Work of Art and maybe even fans of bands like Disturbed and Hatebreed might really find a more than positive surprise on this release. As some final words, I’d love to quote some words mentioned on the promo. “This CD is for promotional use only. None can sold this to you. If someone tries to do such a thing, then shove it up his @!@#$%.” Although it’s never a bad thing to get promo CDs shoved in my ass, I’m not even considering of selling this one to you, so if you really want this one (which you do!) then go and rob your favourite CD store!

Harm Magazine - by Wayfaerer. June 2007

Project: Failing Flesh's debut, A Beautiful Sickness, was an interesting and unique entry of industrial/death/thrash. Imagine bits and pieces of Fear Factory, Meshuggah (when they were good), Voivod, and even Grip Inc. along with a multitude of horns, piano, synths, and violins and you will get somewhat of a grasp of what to expect. As I believe I mentioned on their debut, they truly have their own sound, and have only enhanced and taken it to the next level with The Conjoined.

The Conjoined feeds off of its diversity in the tracks. "Eye of Demise" opens with blast-beats and maintains a dark and ominous atmosphere while speeding things along. The title track takes things a bit more slowly, opening with a rumbling bass and horned instruments midway through that give it an inventive and eerie feel. The trumpets sound as if they had been pulled from a horror movie. "Regenerate" is one of the more melodic tracks you'll find, with my favorite chorus on the album. "Second Impact Syndrome" is the one track that really seems to go for the throat with vicious thrash, while "Synensthesia" takes a much doomier, and heavy as nails approach. The only track I'm not fond of is the short instrumental "Unsight Unseen", as it seems to break the flow of the disc.

In addition to song-by-song diversity, there are a few other things worth mentioning about The Conjoined. First is the vocals of Eric Forrest, who goes from a thrashy scream to sung vocals (yet heavy, no metalcore business here) to an occasional snarl all within the time of one song. Secondly, the production is a major step-up here, as The Conjoined sounds just as good as most major label efforts I've heard recently. I know I've already mentioned this, but their use of horns has got to be some of the best in metal. They really add something extra that enhances the atmosphere (also check out "Surface Noise" in addition to the title track for an example of this).

If you are looking for an extreme metal effort with something unique to offer, Project: Failing Flesh should be one of the next discs you go out to purchase. Let's hope The Conjoined gives them some much-needed recognition. Recommended!

Standout Tracks: The Conjoined, Second Impact Syndrome, Regenerate, Eye of Demise

Benzoworld - (85 out of 100) by Andrea Ripamonti. April 2007

Ed ecco, dopo il bellissimo ritorno dei Machine Head, un altro album di ottimo thrash metal proiettato nel futuro, ma sempre con un occhio buttato al passato, a quanto prodotto a cavallo tra anni ’80 e ’90. Forti dell’ottimo debut, i nostri tre tornano sul mercato con un album potentissimo, forte di sfuriate al limite del death, come nelle stupende “Eye of Demise” e la più thrashy “Second Impact Syndrome”, ma anche di aperture inusuali che riportano alla mente bands come Ministry o Grip Inc, coi quali i Project: Failing Flesh hanno molte cose in comune, pur rivisitando le simili influenze in modo del tutto personale. La band di Eric Forrest, infatti, riesce a passare con apparente facilità da ritmiche thrash ad inserti di sax, come nella title track, assolutamente spiazzanti ad un primo ascolto, ma perfetti per creare un’atmosfera apocalittica e veramente disturbante, anche perché il sax viene utilizzato in modo molto disturbato, non certo per dare melodia! Anche l’elettronica non manca, inserita con saggezza e moderazione, anche se spicca in modo particolare in “Regenerate”, song dallo stampo futuristico. Sorprendente anche l’intermezzo classicheggiante “Unsight Unseen”, ottimo per preparare alla successiva mazzata che risponde al nome di “Eye Of Demise”, vera scheggia impazzita, tra i pezzi migliori dell’album. Album che comunque non presenta punti deboli, forte di una tracklist omogenea in quanto a qualità ma imprevedibile, agevolata anche dalla durata ridotta (poco meno di 40 minuti) che favorisce non poco l’assimilazione dei brani e la voglia di risentire da capo tutto il cd. Se fossi in voi darei una possibilità a quest’album, soprattutto se siete fan di quel thrash contaminato ma sempre potente, valorizzato in questo caso da un songwriting sopra la media e da un cantante come Eric Forrest, già ottimo nei Voivod, assolutamente superlativo in questo caso.

VS-webzine - by VsGreg. June 2007

Après un premier album sorti en 2003 sur le label hollandais Karmageddon, nous n'avions plus eu de nouvelles de la formation américaine composée du producteur/guitariste Kevin 131, de Tim Guttierrez aux samples/instruments et du chanteur Eric Forrest connu pour son travail au sein de Voivod et E-Force. Le groupe avait pourtant son nouvel album "The conjoined" en boîte depuis environ 2 ans, mais des problèmes avec Karmageddon ont retardé sa sortie, le combo trouvant refuge chez une petite structure grecque, récente et très peu connue nommée Buring Star.

Ce disque possède pourtant un savoir-faire indéniable accompagné d'une réelle personnalité qui aurait dû lui permettre de dégoter un meilleur contrat… il ne vaut peut-être mieux pas sortir du moule pour être signer sur un label prestigieux aujourd'hui ?

Bref, "The conjoined" est enfin là pour le plus grand plaisir des amateurs d'atmosphères tendues et glauques que l'on avaient pu découvrir sur "A beautiful sickness". Sans se lancer dans l'expérimentation à tout va, Project Failing Flesh va de l'avant, se basant toujours et encore sur un socle très thrash dans les riffs accompagné du style vocal très caractéristique de l'excellent Eric Forrest.

Des éléments électro et industriels viennent ensuite se greffer aux compositions pour former des titres vicieux, accrocheurs dans une ambiance froide à la limite du malsain. En example prenons "Synensthesia" qui possède un riff principal et une rythmique dans la lignée du "Selfless" de Godflesh, ou encore "Regenerate" qui s'appuie sur des touches drum'n'bass et sur quelques intonations vocales qui rappellent "Infotainement" de Pitch Shifter.
Si on retrouve ainsi diverses influences sur cet opus comme l’inévitable ombre de Voivod, cela n'empêche pas le trio de rester original et unique en son genre. Il injecte par exemple des trombes de cuivres sur le titre "The conjoined" qui avait pourtant commencé par une batterie tribale, on retrouvera ces mêmes cuivres un peu plus tard sur "Surface noice" mais étant insufflés à une cadence qui évoque un défilé d'éléphants. Autre exemple, "Eye of demise" est ponctué de courtes notes au piano bien que son riff d’intro soit tonitruant et agressif.

N'en déduisez pas que "The conjoined" s'engouffre dans une intellectualisation musicale emmerdante, ses compositions riches restent très assimilables et facilement appréciables et ce au bout de quelques écoutes. Project Failing Flesh reste avant tout un terrain de jeu pour 3 thrasheurs qui osent encore faire évoluer le style, et ils sont plutôt convainquants !

Rockpages.gr - by Costas Koulis. May 2007

+ in both English and Greek (below).

They’re pissed! They’re angry! They wanna tear it all down! While and/or after listening to this album, you simply want to kick someone’s teeth out! However, such actions are out of the question, unless the “sample” is a politician. Regardless, you practice the holy art of moshing and frenzy head-banging.

Second album for the trio, their debut with the Greek label. Eric 131 and Tim Gutierrez join forces with – ex Voivod, now with E-Force – Eric Forrest, presenting their new music aspect.

This aspect now, includes the following ingredients. Pantera’s kettle, Voivod’s gloves and chef hat, the experimentation spoon. I.e. putting horns on “sick” compositions, like the same-title track. Yeah, I know, vox are far too hauling, yeah, not my kinda thing. However… it’s the only way to do vocals on these songs. Forrest is screaming cuz he has to. That’s the way to do it. He literally ignites the fuel, sets up the explosion. All songs are small in duration, a perfect match for such an explosion.

I have the impression that during live performance, moshing pit will become a war zone. Space “kick it!” continues. Thank God for that.

Τσαντίλα! Θυμός! Τσαμπουκάς! Ακούγοντας το συγκεκριμένο άλμπουμ, θέλεις οπωσδήποτε να σπάσεις τα μούτρα κάποιου. Επειδή όμως κάτι τέτοιο είναι τουλάχιστον εκτός πραγματικότητας – εξαιρούνται οι πολιτικοί, αυτοί θα αποτελούσαν πρώτης τάξεως «δείγματα» - τότε αρκείσαι στο να επιδίδεσαι σε μανιασμένο head-banging.

Δεύτερο άλμπουμ για το τρίο, το πρώτο με την Ελληνική εταιρεία. Οι Eric 131 και Tim Gutierrez ενώνουν τις δυνάμεις τους με τον Eric Forrest (πρώην Voivod και νυν E-Force) και μας παρουσιάζουν τη δική τους μουσική πρόταση.

Η οποία πρόταση περιέχει τα εξής «συστατικά». Το τσουκάλι των Pantera, τα γάντια και το σκούφο των Voivod και την κουτάλα του πειραματισμού, π.χ. του να βάζεις πνευστά (samples ή όχι, δεν έχει σημασία, εδώ μέτρησε το αποτέλεσμα) σε «άρρωστες» συνθέσεις, όπως το ομώνυμο κομμάτι. Ναι, τα φωνητικά είναι «ουρλιαχτώδη ως πολύ ουρλιαχτώδη». Ναι, δεν τρελαίνομαι για τέτοια μοτίβα. Πλην όμως, δεν μπορώ να φανταστώ καμία άλλη παραλλαγή για αυτού του τύπου τραγούδια. Ο Forrest γκαρίζει γιατί έτσι πρέπει. Κυριολεκτικά ανάβει το φυτίλι για να «εκραγεί» αυτή η δουλειά. Τα κομμάτια άλλωστε, μικρά σε διάρκεια, προσφέρονται για αυτό.

Έχω την εντύπωση πως στα live θα γίνει χαμός στο moshing pit και θα πέσει το ξύλο της αρκούδας. Το διαστημικό «μπούγιο» συνεχίζει ακάθεκτο. Ευτυχώς.

Decibels Storm - by Alexis Kieffer. May 2007

Diantre, ça butte gentiment ça ! Du thrash, de l'indus, des claviers, des passages atmo et Eric Forrest au micro. Fear Factory, Voivod et Skinny Puppy au rang des principales références. Un son énorme. Encore ? Une variété étonnante au sein d'une solide unité, des trouvailles qui permettent systématiquement d'éviter la moindre lassitude, des titres calibrés pour faire mouche. Et même des cuivres, oui, vous avez bien lu, des cuivres... Eric Forrest livre peut-être ici sa meilleure prestation puisqu'il couvre tout le spectre du chant, du hardcore hurlé au clair-obscur, en passant par le quasi-death. Sur le plan instrumental, je ne vois pas comment demeurer insensible à la force du riffing, intense, créatif, violent, s'acoquinant parfois au black suédois sur "Eye of demise" pour ensuite entonner des accents ultra-heavy sur le titre d'après. Bluffant. Le tout mis en valeur par une production parfaitement adaptée, c'est à dire efficace mais sans clinquant et sans aucune complaisance. L'album se clôture avec un titre mariant feeling cyberpunk et accès de proto-black-thrash, qui le résume très bien : sombre, violent et sardonique. Une excellente découverte dont l'écoute est fermement recommandée.

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