REVIEWS - "The Conjoined" CD (page 8)

page (1) (2) (3) (4) (5) (6) (7) (8)

Church Ov Ze Dead - by Guillaume "Ged" Dumazer. June 2008

Second album from Eric Forrest’s (E-Force) other band. All is about strange, sophisticated and frozen death / thrash metal with multiple influences like classical music, free jazz or industrial atmospheres and some surprising intrusions in the line-up : cello, trumpet, prehistoric-sounding keyboard. An astonishing work if you ask me, this is sooo original while staying terribly METAL. One of the best CDs I received ’till ages ! Huge production. A terrifying cocktail of Fear Factory, Apocalyptica, Celtic Frost, Voivod, Emperor and Naked City. Nah just joking ! Or not...

Invisible Oranges - by Cosmo Lee. July 2008

Project: Failing Flesh's main selling point is probably vocalist Eric Forrest, formerly of Voivod. His time in Voivod is highly underrated; the band lost the nuance it had with original vocalist Snake, but it became heavy as hell. After Voivod, Forrest formed his own cyber-thrash outfit, E-Force. He also linked up with brothers Tim and Kevin Gutierrez, of Vienna, VA, to form Project: Failing Flesh. More accurately, the brothers emailed Forrest out of the blue, and he agreed to contribute vocals after hearing their material.

Forrest's yells and occasional singing are sturdy enough, but the brothers Gutierrez are the real stars of The Conjoined (Burning Star, 2007). They wrote all the music and played all the instruments, except for some keyboards, trumpets, and cello. The record is some of the freshest metal I've heard in ages. Meshuggah, Voivod, Godflesh, black metal, industrial electronics, and general weirdness intertwine seamlessly; a lot of neurons are firing here. One never knows what's around the corner, but it's usually a pleasant surprise. Such unpredictability reminds me of Mike Patton, but none of his projects have been this heavy or substantial.

I recently had a discussion with live4metal.com's Dave Schalek about the state of metal today, and we generally agreed that the major subgenres of metal (death, black, thrash, etc.) have run their course creatively. Metal hasn't had any major paradigm shifts since black metal in the '90s; trends since then have been more faddish than innovative. The concept of "hybrid vigor" greatly appeals to me (interracial marriages, mixed-breed animals, etc.), and I believe the way forward with metal is hybridization à la Project: Failing Flesh.

Autoeroticasphyxium - by Mickmo. issue #14. July 2008

This is another good CD, in my opinion. I guess you call it experimental heavy core of a sort. But again, it is an album that seems to flow from the speakers. It is sort in the vein of God Forbid or Candiria and it really jams in a victorious and kinetic front. So, this is what you can expect from this release, sheer grooves aplenty! This is a good CD from start to finish.

Atmoshpheric - (4.5 out of 6) by Kasia. September 2008

Po opuszczeniu zespołu Voivod Eric Forrest powołał do życia Project: Failing Flesh, z którym zadebiutował w roku 2003 płytą „A Beautiful Sickness”. Cztery lata później nastał czas na nowy album „The Conjoined.”, który zawiera muzykę graniczącą z kilkoma gatunkami metalu. Wyjściowy jest jednak progresywny thrash/death... Materiał jest rozbudowany i wielowymiarowy. Składa się z jedenastu technicznych, zazwyczaj pokręconych utworów. Gitarowe zawijasy i liczne przejścia w obrębie sekcji rytmicznej są domeną Project: Failing Flesh. A gdyby tego było mało, grupa wprowadza zaskakujące elementy typu niemal techno motywy w „Regenerate”, psychodeliczny, jazzowy saksofon w kompozycji tytułowej czy wariacja bodaj na wiolonczelę w „Unsight Unseen”. W swoim instrumentarium kapela ma też klawisze, które nie są stale obecne, ale w niektórych momentach odgrywają znaczącą rolę. A wokale wahają się między zniekształconymi a czystymi. Poza tym muzyka z „The Conjoined.” miewa taką „technologiczną” rytmikę i brzmi chłodno, a czasem swoją zadziornością i ciężkością nawiązuje do nowoczesnego thrashu, a nawet hard core`a. No i oczywiście czuć na tej płycie namacalne echa Voivod.. Jednym słowem członkowie Project: Failing Flesh wykazują się pomysłowością i dobrym warsztatem, a „The Conjoined.” to mocny materiał, dzięki któremu zespołem powinny się zainteresować duże wytwórnie.

Burning Black - by Alvaro Pacheco. October 2008

Project: Failing Flesh was formed in 2001, by the vocalist Eric Forrest (E-Force, ex-Voivod), Tim Gutierrez and Kevin 131, releasing in 2003 their album debut called “A Beautiful Sickness” under Karmageddon Media, five years after the releasing of this debut the band unleashes “The Conjoined” the band’s second and latest work. Having not heard their previous work, I didn’t really know what can expect, but after hearing the opening track, “Final Act of Treachery”, I must say the violent and eclectic proposal of this trio caught me completely by surprise… The style the band delivers here could be labeled as an extreme and experimental Metal; I haven’t found an accurate parameter yet but if I had to set a comparison, I would say this album sounds like the heaviest moments of Fear Factory, blended with some of the industrial/technical feeling of Strapping Young Lad, all these surrounded by some slight avant-garde traces and a straight in-your-face Thrash/Death Metal attitude… The variety is a trademark on this album; the violent music is constantly complemented by all kind of sound and effects, from industrial noises to “orchestral” arrangements resulting in a highly interesting and catchy experiment. The complex structures of this album moves over varied tempos, ranging from slow and pounding parts to fast and blasting passages, but always maintaining a solid coherence between tracks… The vocal work of Eric Forrest is as versatile as the whole music, contributing here with a wide range of tones, from the usual Thrash styled semi grunted vocal to clean voices, passing through eve shade in between… The whole production is, as such technical style requires, completely strong and solid sounding, enormously contributing with the whole album’s modern feeling. “The Conjoined” is definitely a solid slab of extreme Metal of the highest caliber, so if you’re into the extreme experimentation and enjoy the sound of bands such Fear Factory, Strapping Young Lad or even DHG, this album will definitely not leave you indifferent.

Femforgacs - (10 out of 10) by Pataki Zoltan. December 2008

+ in both English and Hungarian (below).

If you’re a frequent reader of our magazine, you’re definitely familiar with the name Project: Failing Flesh: yes, yes, this is the band working with the former vocalist of Voivod, Eric Forrest. Since I’ve recently made a thorough interview with Tim, once again I’ll ignore the biography. Last year’s album is the second in line, but what does it conceal?

40 minutes of experimental throbbing, The Conjoined perfectly reflects what they have started in 2003 with A Beautiful Sickness. However, a slight difference can be that this time the guys were more daring in unusual ideas and the ambivalent instrumental concepts, which at the end gives us the whole picture again. It is obvious that The Conjoined is not only daring with the samplers but in the heaviness itself. For example the intro part of Eye of Demise (that easily could fit in as death-black) or the soul-crushing thudding of Surface Noise, complete with trumpets….or even Synesthesia, which seems to have been knocked off a Voivod record. There is no lack of ideas, the uniqueness and strength of Project: Failing Flesh are both fed by the same thing: experimenting. And indeed, besides the tight post-trash, tinted with an astounding variety of instruments, shifts, their music never slips into boredom, as if pouring green and red searing, sizzling fluids from one vial to the other. Despite the laboratory-like sterility, they never create something artificial, although at certain points it is obvious that – at least this way – it can not be realized live. But maybe that’s the beauty of it, that these musical geniuses have the talent and courage to mix water with electricity, blood with pitch, the industrial-break-noise-d’n’b bases with raging metals. The effect reaches confusion, like in Regenerate, starting off with hard d’n’b guitars and ending in trashy pulsing. Still, some aspects resemble the early noises of NIN as well as the high musical standards of Therion. The intro of Unsight Unseen might even be used for a strategy game, with the end resembling the cold war era of the 60s. The hand that you’ve been dealt spring up with jazz- and r’n’r-like grinding, so does the title track rebel with its jazzy trumpets….and so on….not to mention the yet again extraordinary Celtic Frost cover!

I can only repeat myself when saying the music of Project: Failing Flesh uses most kinds of musical genre or influence: as for the ones it doesn’t, they'll devour them soon. And the result is so unusual, that I don’t even dare to use ‘crossover’ to describe it: astonishing ideas, professional recording, great sound, beautiful classical elements ranging from trumpets, through organs all the way to hammer blows. In other words, a great and stunning concoction, released by Burning Star Records, in a neat digi-pack.

Aki gyakran olvasgatja a Fémforgácsot, annak semmiképpen sem tűnhet ismeretlenül a Project: Failing Flesh neve; igen, igen, ez az a csapat, amely a Voivod egykori énekesével, Eric Forrest-tel dolgozik együtt. Mivel készítettem nem is olyan nagyon rég egy átfogó és korrekt interjút Tim-mel, így a biográfiától megint csak eltekintenék. A tavalyi lemez a második a sorban, s hogy mit rejt?

Közel 40 perc kísérleti lüktetést, a The Conjoined tökéletesen folytatja azt, amit a 2003-as A Beautiful Sickness-szel elkezdtek. A változás talán csak annyi, hogy még bátrabban estek neki a furcsa zenei megoldásoknak és a felemás hangszer koncepcióknak, amelyek a végére mégis csak egy egészet és nagyot adnak közre. Mindenképpen szembetűnő hogy a The Conjoined nem csak a samplerekben vált bátrabbá, hanem magában a keménységben is, itt van pl. az Eye of demise kezdése, mely akár death-black is lehetne, vagy a Surface notice lélekzúzó szaggatása és törtsége, trombitákkal… vagy a Synensthesia, amely mintha egy Voivod lemezről pattant volna le. Ötletekben nincs hiány, a Project: Failing Flesh egyedisége és ereje és ugyanabból a táplálkozik, ez pedig nem más, mint a kísérlet. S valóban a húzós post-thrash mellett a meghökkentő hangszerhasználatokkal és váltásokkal tarkítva a megunhatatlanságig húzzák a mezsgyét, és egyik fiolából a másikba öntenek zöld és vörös sistergő, fortyogó anyagokat… A laboratóriumi sterilitás ellenére mégsem valami teljesen mesterségeset kapunk, bár azért pár helyen érezhető, hogy ez így és ebben a formában – megszólalásban élőben nem megvalósítható. De talán éppen ez benne a szép is, hiszen a két zenei gurunak van képzetsége és bátorsága összekotyvasztani a vizet az árammal, a vért a szurokkal, és az ipari-break-noise-d’n’b alapokat a haragos fémek hadával. Az összhatás pedig kiismerhetetlenségig húzódik, vegyük példának a Regenerate című tételt, amely durva d’n’b-és gitárokkal indul, majd thrash-es zakatolásba torkollik, mégis több helyen is feltűnik a NIN korai zajossága illetve a Therion féle klasszikus zenei igényessége… a Unsight unseen eleje akár egy stratégiajátékban is leadható lenne a végére pedig a hidegháború övezte 60’as évek elevenednek fel, míg a The hand that you've been deal jazzes és rock’n’ roll szerű zúzdával burjánzik tova, s a címadó nóta is okosan lázad a jazzes trombitáival…s így tovább… s akkor még egy szót se szóltam a megint csak nem mindennapi Celtic Frosts feloldolgozásról!

Csak ismételni tudom önmagam, miszerint a Project: Failing Flesh mindenféle zenei burkot és hatást magán érezhet s amit nem, azt is csakhamar bekebelezi… a végeredmény pedig annyira kísérleti hogy még a crossover műfaj jeltzőt se merem rá használni; elképesztő megoldások, profin feljátszott számok, vastag hangzás, gyönyörű klasszikus zenei mementumok, amelyek a trombitától az orgonán át a kalapács ütésig terjednek… avagy egy hatalmas és letaglozó kotyvasz, melyet a Burning Star Records adott ki, igényes digi-pack csomagolásban.

Psychozine - (5 out of 5) by Grzegorz Fijalkowski. January 2009

Project: Failing Flesh to zespół o bliżej niekreślonym, międzynarodowym pochodzeniu, założony z inicjatywy dwóch braci, Kevina i Tima, którzy postanowili zachęcić do wspólnego grania niejakiego Erika Forresta znanego z grupy E-Force, ale jeszcze bardziej ze swojej kilkuletniej przygody z Voivod. Można szybko sobie wyobrazić, jak mocne musieli mieć argumenty muzyczne, aby ściągnąć w swoje szeregi takiego kolesia i nagrać wspólnie już dwie płyty.

Jednak po odpaleniu "The Conjoined" po kilku pierwszych taktach nie byłem tym faktem, aż tak mocno zaskoczony, a po pierwszym wysłuchaniu całej płyty nie bardzo widzę inną personalną opcję dla tego totalnie odjechanego projektu. Spróbujcie przez chwilę wyobrazić sobie mieszankę zakręconego Voivod z rytmiką Fear Factory, gdzie przebłyski symfoniki genialnego Emperor czy elektroniczne łamańce nieobliczalnego Ministry, tudzież schizofreniczne aranże Godflesh są słyszalne gdzieś w tle całego zamieszania?.I co, wyobraźnia daje radę!!! Cholera, twardzi jesteście?!? A gdybym dorzucił do tego Enslaved z odrobiną Swans oraz szczyptą Messhuggah. No i jak?! Pieprzyć porównania i skojarzenia - mnie ten materiał rozwalił w drobny pył po trzecim przesłuchaniu, a to dopiero początek uczty. Pogmatwany, soczysty thrash metal z mnóstwem piekielnej siary, industrialnych pętli i brzmień, rockowych zagrywek i jazzowych wejść, niesamowitej rytmiki, dzikości, schizofrenii, wściekłości i cholera wie, czego tu jeszcze nie ma. Wiem, na pewno nie ma miejsca na nudę?!!! Jeżeli ktoś powie mi, że The Dillenger Escape Plan jest rewolucyjny to ja powiem - posłuchaj Project: Failing Flesh. A wiecie dlaczego? Otóż ten zespół nie jest kolejnym niumaczmetalowym popaprańcem, których setki wciska nam się, jako fenomenalne odkrycia, tylko solidnym, bazującym na starej szkole grania zespołem, który pomimo wszelakich porównań, jakich użyłem na początku, tworzy kawał konkretnej muzy. Chorobliwe klimaty, porywające aranżacje, błyskotliwe pomysły, ciężar i fenomenalne odegranie całości na nietuzinkowym, jak na metalowy zespół instrumentarium, aczkolwiek jak najbardziej opartym na gitarowym mięchu. To jest prawdziwa rewolucja i jeszcze jak przyjemnie da się tego słuchać, a po 40 minutach chciałoby się więcej i więcej i więcej?.Pozycja obowiązkowa dla ludzi o otwartych umysłach i wysokich oczekiwaniach, preferujących niebagatelne muzyczne wyzwania, lecz podane w przyswajalnej formie oraz solidnym wydaniu/wykonaniu. A to, co dla mnie najistotniejsze - w tej muzyce nie czuje się przypadkowości, silenia się na oryginalność. Całość wyszła w tak naturalny sposób, że trudno sobie wyobrazić, aby cokolwiek można na tej płycie zmienić. Przemyślana, dojrzała, skomplikowana, ale prosta zarazem - jednym słowem genialna. Nawet nie będę próbował rozpisywać się na temat poszczególnych kompozycji, aby nie przeciążać naszych serwerów lub zanudzać najzwyczajniej?.Jako ciekawostkę dodam jeszcze, że chłopaki nagrali, zmiksowali i w ogóle zajęli się całą studyjną produkcją sami. Panowie realizatorzy, posłuchajcie jak nagrywa się metalową muzykę.

Powiem tak - otwórzcie butelkę whisky, wcześniej wyślijcie rodzinę oraz sąsiadów do kina, a później dopierdolcie tyle decybeli na ile pozwoli Wam sprzęt i wpadnijcie w amok razem z Project: Failing Flesh. I niech ten saksofon przeczyści Wam narząd słuchu?

Hierophant Nox - (84 out of 100) by Ellen Simpson. February 2009

"The Conjoined" was released over a year ago and has met with almost an almost universal critical thumbs-up, but with the band working on new material, I feel it’s definitely worth revisiting, in case there are some unfortunates out there who missed this offering from Project: Failing Flesh the first time around. A thrashy death metal monster with lashings of futuristic weirdness and progressive leanings, this album has plenty to grab the attention, and whilst being straightforwardly heavy in a satisfying way, it also has enough surprising twists to exercise the grey matter too.

The guitar work on "The Conjoined", courtesy of Tim and Kevin, is a refreshingly smack-in-the face death metal crunch, imbued with thrash’s energy and rhythms and the swaggering, low-tuned crush of American groove and speed metal towards the end of the twentieth century. The power of the fret assault is evident immediately on opener "Final Act of Treachery", which steamrolls over the massive synth atmosphere which underlies it, clashing with the effects and bringing a clever and easy discordance to bear. "Through the Broken Lens" has an equally crushing tightness, juxtaposed by more open, soft sections, and bridged by some very nice clean guitar.

"Eve of Demise" is a stand-out track, with very heavy and catchy riffs, flamboyant lead flourishes, and industrial effects and a distorted spoken word to finish, which helps maintain the aura of weirdness the whole album seems set on creating. Tracks like this reveal the excellent song-writing ability of the musicians involved- the structuring of each song is accomplished and mature, and the work as a whole flows effortlessly from one composition to the next. The elements which could have been gimmick with another band- the keyboard layers, the effects and samples, the deep strings of "Unsight Unseen"- are for Project: Failing Flesh natural and coherent ingredients which feel utterly at home in their experimental, tricksy sound.

The crowning glory of the album is the vocal performance by Eric Forrest, previously of Voivod fame. His howling, harsh, aggressive roar is exactly of the caliber required by this demanding music, and he goes forth with absolutely no reserve, adding a considerable power to the songs. In all, the technicality, progressive tendency, variation, musicianship and excellent song-writing on display here make me eager for future releases from Project: Failing Flesh. Very heavy, very insistent, and sometimes very weird, this is fantastic stuff.

Metal Waves - (18.5 out of 20) by Sandman. February 2009

Il faut avouer que dans le domaine du Thrash Metal, on n’a pas souvent l’occasion de voir des groupes qui s’éloignent des sentiers battus d’une manière vraiment radicale, puisque la plupart se contentent plus ou moins d’emprunter chacun à sa manière- les chemins préalablement tracés et linéairement prédéfinis (On ne peut pas les blâmer pour ça, généralement on aime le Thrash comme ça).

C’est pour cela que la découverte d’un Thrash Metal empli d’un souffle expérimental, éveille chez le Thrasheux –du moins, celui avec un esprit suffisamment large- un certain intérêt, une certaine volonté de voir jusqu’où ça peut aller et une envie d’exploration artistique de nouveaux recoins au sein de ce style musical. Niveau exploration, les américains de Project : Failing Flesh (attention ne vous fiez pas trop à son nom, ce n’est pas un projet mais un groupe à part entière) comptent sérieusement nous combler avec le Thrash bien Deatheux et la veine expérimentale de leur seconde réalisation ‘The Conjoined’.

Premier point notable lors de l’écoute de l’album : la production, on a là une production particulièrement soignée et nette mais sans que ça bascule vers le ‘Too much’ puisqu’elle a exactement ce qu’il faut là où il la faut pour transmettre des riffs bien sales et surtout bien puissants. Et coté riffs puissants, on sera vraiment servi sur cet album avec des rythmiques qui sentent le Death à plein nez et qui s’enchaînent entre partie mid-tempo et parties bien rythmées avec un Groove et une technicité à toute épreuve (y’a pas vraiment de solos, mais le jeu est incontestablement technique) surtout quand on s’aperçoit rapidement de la nuance industrielle que possèdent certains et qui donne un coté entraînant au schéma rythmique. Pour s’en rendre compte, il suffit d’écouter des morceaux un peu comme ‘Through The Broken Lens’ ou bien ‘Motionless’… Pour tout dire, le coté indus n’apparaît pas qu’au niveau des riffs, on remarque en fait l’utilisation de quelques samples électroniques comme celles dans le début de ‘Regenerate’ ou dans ‘The Hand That You’ve Been Dealt’ qui sont là pour pimenter un peu l’ambiance mais qui, heureusement, sont assez dosées pour qu’on n’en soit pas rebutés. Les éléments Electro/Indus à eux seulement ne justifient pas l’utilisation du terme ‘Experimental’ pour qualifier la musique du groupe. La tendance expérimentale va apparaître ailleurs, sous une autre forme et d’une manière plus diversifiée : D’abord les touches symphoniques assez sombres présentes au niveau de certaines samples comme celles de ‘Final Act of Treachery’ ou ‘Unsight Unseen’, aussi un coté jazz fusion assez important à travers le jeu de basse qui se fait distinctement remarquer plus d’une fois et ce coté jazz prend une toute autre dimension lors de morceaux dans le genre de ‘The Conjoined’ ou ‘Surface Notice’ quand on entend carrément du Sax et des trompettes en guise d’accompagnement pour les instruments Metal, sans oublier que le groupe s’essaye même parfois au Black Metal en nous balançant à la figure quelques blasts bien bourrins un peu comme dans ‘Eve of Demise’ et ‘The Hand That You’ve Been Dealt’... Coté chant rien à dire, Eric Forrest (E-Force, Ex-Voivod) n’est pas vraiment là pour blaguer...Il nous sort ici un chant bien maîtrisé et surtout très varié puisqu’il se ballade à travers différents registres entre chant mixte bien enragé, Growl parfois grave et d’autres fois aigu, un peu de vocaux clairs, quelques chœurs…

Pour résumer, prenez ce qu’il y a de meilleur chez Sadus, Coroner, Meshuggah, Atheist, Grip Inc et Voivod, mélangez le, comprimer le et mettez le dans un seul album...Vous obtiendrez tout simplement The Conjoined!

Hard Waves - (8 out of 10) by Martin Lugton. April 2009

Project: Failing Flesh’s “The Conjoined” is a a strong offering of Slightly Avant-garde Extreme Metal. There’s a whole lot of power in this album: “The Conjoined” has clearly paid careful attention to pretty much every area of Metal that has an interesting riff to offer, and taken notes. There’s a great thrashy one in in “Second Impact Syndrome” and a neat driving one in album opener “Final Act Of Treachery”. “Eve Of Demise” opens with a riff that could have been penned by Euronymous, before settling into a brutal, pounding post-Demonaz-Immortal-type guitar part. There’s a pretty groovy rhythm in “Through The Broken Lens”, that makes the crushing guitar part it opens in to far more dynamic and engaging, without having to resort to tricky rhythm structures to get its point across.

There’s also a fair bit of restraint here, and the songs often opt for a more impersonal, mechanical feel, and hold off on taking a riff any further. The sound production is solid, with the drums having a nice mechanical click to them, as highlighted in the sparser sections of “Regenerate”. The double bass climax to “Through The Broken Lens” and accompaniment to “Synesthesia” are fantastic, and whilst the drumming isn’t flashy, when it has something to say, it steps up to the mic. and doesn’t stutter. The vocals are brilliant, ranging from higher-pitched gravelly delivery to deeper parts, and there’s an impressive clarity to Eric Forrest’s voice.

Not every riff hits the spot; a few here and there feel a bit languid and pedestrian, such as the end-of-verse riff in “Eve Of Demise”, but on the whole the rhythm guitar is strong, and the song-writing keeps everything together very well. There’s a real sense of progression within most of the tracks, and if anything changes, it’s always for a good reason. Far too many bands lay sacrifice after bloody sacrifice at the altar of the god of change, hoping desperately that the next little section they play will somehow be better than the last that they so rapidly abandoned. Project: Failing Flesh make the requisite sacrifices to this god, but realize that ours is a musical pantheon, and that if your musical base isn’t strong, you can’t leap from it to anywhere but the chasm below you, as the ground crumbles beneath your feet. So far we’ve got a review for a solid, if unspectacular, album. Everything’s sounding rather good, but there’s not much here that you couldn’t have heard elsewhere. Slap on a 7 out of ten rating, and we can all get back to our families and carry on with our lives.

But then the title track throws out something that took me completely by surprise, and left me with a smile on my face. A plodding baseline over some bleak guitar is the backdrop for some surprising and brilliant trumpet work, which carves some wonderful melodic meanders, conjuring a fantastic space, the likes of which I haven’t really come across before. There’s some excellent rhythm in a later section in this track, a simple guitar part being joined by some fantastic trumpets. This is the sort of thing that this album does best: working on a sturdy base and taking things just that little bit further, as it does when a riff gets an extra jolt of power through a timely shift or some intense drumming. It’s a shame that it doesn’t do it more often, but it does so much right at the other times that I can’t complain too much. A few absolutely dazzling strokes on a solid canvas.

Record Heaven - 2009

The highly anticipated sophomore effort from Project: Failing Flesh - The Conjoined is finally here. Project: Failing Flesh have upped the ante and even topped their excellent debut A Beautiful Sickness, which is no easy task to do...The Conjoined is easily one of the strongest releases in Metal this year. Every song on The Conjoined crushes and is filled with some sick guitar riffing courtesy of Tim Gutierrez (who also co-produced the album with Kevin 131) and also contain the distinct vocals of Eric Forrest (ex-Voivod and current E-Force), who in my opinion has one of the most original voices in Metal today. Kevin 131 also adds other instruments and programming as well as engineering and mixing the album at his own Assembly Line Studios. Kevin 131 definitely has the pulse and sound of the Metal world today, the production and mix on The Conjoined is tighter and more crushing than that of major label bands I have heard...killer stuff! Project: Failing Flesh are true fans of Metal and write and produce songs that they themselves would want to hear. The Conjoined not only shows growth within the band, but they have carved their own original sound and have taken things to a heavier more twisted level this time around. Too many bands sound similar to my taste these days...Project: Failing Flesh sound like themselves, they write catchy and crushing songs and for that it's Horns way High!

return to top to link to other review pages