Estradasphere - Quadropus
EAC - LOSSLESS (Img.APE+LOG+CUE) | Total Time: 62:42 min | 368 mb
Mp3 Version | 320kbps | 143 MB
Released: 2003 | Genre: Avant-garde, Experimental Metal, Jazz | Label: Web Of Mimicry | Cat #: WOM - 013
Mp3 Version | 320kbps | 143 MB
Released: 2003 | Genre: Avant-garde, Experimental Metal, Jazz | Label: Web Of Mimicry | Cat #: WOM - 013
Ahh, cohesion. Without it, music nearly always suffers. Without it, music is just a series of moments strung together at random. When I get a new album and I find that it’s as cohesive as the new Estradasphere is, I generally tend to be very happy. But this is Estradasphere we’re talking about here. Their charm is (or, rather, was) their ability to string things together that totally don’t belong and make it work. Their first two albums were fantastic amalgams of just about any genre you could imagine. And they weren’t just limited to one genre per song. In some cases there were five, six, or more genres in a single tune. Absent of reason, the pure energy and craziness drove their music to greater levels than Mr. Bungle or any other previous genre benders. But now, 2003 has brought us Quadropus and there’s no sense beating around the bush; it’s a bit of a let down. It certainly has its high points, but it’s missing something. Something important. That would be the pure, unadulterated zaniness of Estradasphere’s past. The album’s high points are probably more numerous than what I would truly call low points, and that’s a good thing. The songs Dubway, A Car Ride In Idealistic Ethiopia (Part 1), King Krab Battle, opener Mekapses Yitonisa, and the token epic Hardball, are all very enthusiastic, expertly crafted and executed, and simply fun. Dubway is entirely a capella, with heavy use of vocal effects, and beat-boxing. It’s a novelty, yes, but a unique and enjoyable one. A Car Ride… is probably my favorite song on the album. The James Bond/espionage vibe is cleverly arranged for various strings, sax, trumpet, and a number of different keyboard effects. It flows smoothly but is diverse enough to stay interesting. King Krab Battle is more of a mixed bag. It has an excessively boring three minute intro before the actual song rounds out the eight and a half minute piece. The intro is almost enough to make it not worth listening to, but the intense big band jazz feel in the actual song topped part of the time with heavy metal guitar playing is just great and wouldn’t have been out of place in one of the ultra ass-kicking fight scenes in the recent Kill Bill Vol. 1. Mekapses Yitonisa is a reworking of a traditional Greek song. It’s a joy to listen to from start to finish, beginning probably more in tune with what the Greeks had in mind and ending up a metal song with fast double bass and heavy riffing (but still with the same cool melody). Hardball mixes ethnic music with funk at times, forays into each individually and ends its nearly fourteen minute duration sounding like a mariachi piece. It’s a bit longer than necessary, but still manages not to grow tiresome. The rest of the album ranges from mediocre to downright not worth listening to. The two heaviest songs on the album, Jungle Warfare and Bodyslam, both have their charms, but are also somewhat annoying. Jungle Warfare features John Merryman of Cephalic Carnage on drums, and as always he delivers, but the song overall lacks anything to make it worth listening to very often. Bodyslam is a very funny song, making fun of both wrestling and tough guy NYC hardcore like Biohazard or Hatebreed. Bands like those definitely deserve to be made fun of and the song does serve its purpose, but it’s a bit too simplistic (aside from a well done guitar solo) considering what Estradasphere is clearly capable of. Speck isn’t a bad song, but it’s unfocused. It’s hard to tell what style they’re trying to achieve with it, but if I had to guess I’d say they were going for ballad. It’s alright if you can manage to get into it, and it does build quite a bit from its rather boring beginning, but not enough to save it from being mediocre. The two remaining songs are downright bad. Crystal Blue is a terrible rendition of 50’s rock. It sounds like Chuck Berry meets the Beach Boys but without the energy of either. At Least We’d Have Today is another pointless ballad made even more pointless by the fact that within it is almost a ten minute duration where there are less than six minutes of music. It has about two and half minutes of music followed by about two minutes of silence, repeated a few times. The bottom line on this one is that the strong points are enough to make it at least worthy of owning, but it’s far from up to par with Estradasphere’s two previous albums. The best thing I can say for it is that the musicianship is very good, especially considering the diversity of instruments played, so if that’s something you’re into, check it out.
Track listing:
01. Mekapses Yitonisa [0:04:21.46]02. Dubway [0:03:38.63]
03. King Krab Battle [0:08:30.65]
04. Speck [Jason - lead vocal] [0:04:34.40]
05. Hardball [0:13:40.23]
06. A Car Ride In Idealistic Ethiopia (Part 1) [0:05:46.69]
07. Crystal Blue [John - lead vocal] [0:03:39.66]
08. Jungle Warfare [Dave Murray & YouriRaymond of Unhuman - vocals] [0:05:42.10]
09. Bodyslam [John - lead vocal] [0:03:09.08]
10. At Least We'd Have Today [Tim - lead vocal] [0:09:38.06]
11. Body Slam [Live].mpg [0:06:22.52]
Personnel:
Timb Harris (vocals, guitar, mandolin, violin, viola, trumpet, percussion); Jason Schimmel (vocals, acoustic guitar, electric guitar, baritone guitar, banjo, piano, harpsichord, organ, synthesizer, percussion); Tim Smolens (vocals, baritone guitar, violin, viola, cello, piano, synthesizer, upright bass, electric bass, percussion); Youri Raymond, Joel Robinow (vocals); Kevin Kmetz (guitar); Ben Blechman (violin); Sarah Hart (viola); Aria Disalvio (cello); Scott Norgren, Wes Anthony, Joe Ford (saxophone); Richard Karst, Valerie Hall (trumpet); Scott Harris (trombone); John Thomas (tuba); Dale Ockerman (piano, organ); Jeff Attridge (piano); Dave Murray , Theo Mordey, John Merryman (drums)
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