REVIEWS - "The Conjoined" CD (page 8)

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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.

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