Bury the Pariah – Sociopathic Undergarment: The Metal Album
From the mind of Rory Heikkila, also known for his other ambitious, predominantly black metal-based band, Shroud Of Despondency, Bury The Pariah is a tech death metalheads wet dream. Fans of The Dillinger Escape Plan and Cephalic Carnage take note, for there are some amazingly disjointed and heavy riff ideas on this album that hammer away one after the other. Each track seems like it have 25 riff ideas per composition with interesting structures and even a lighthearted arsenal of vocal samples from Mr. T, to various cartoon characters. This adds to the overall “music should be fun” concept behind this album, which seems like quite the bold statement in a genre based on seriousness and “tough guy” posturing. I tend to greatly dislike humor in metal, yet I can see past all the tinkering and appreciate Rory’s obvious virtuoso level of guitar playing and definite vision for what he wants to accomplish with this album. The drum programming is noticeably synthetic, but programmed in a non-traditional way to perfectly decorate each guitar line with bizarre fills and cymbal panning to keep the listener agitated and tuned into the left of center attack. With layered vocals ranging from standard guttural death burpings, to more of a screamo wretching style, the diversity is further built upon by the multi-faceted vocals that intensify the complexity of this album. Even thought the whole body of “Sociopathic Undergarment…” is indeed open minded and entertaining, the disc is worth the price of admission alone for the amazing 3 part guitar harmony/solo during the breakdown on the impressive track, “Koko Blew it Up” and also, “New”. In all honesty, this is where Rory is really doing something new and exciting. I think he should tone down on the overall silliness (like including lengthy prank phone calls) and complexity of his compositions to focus on more memorable songwriting and tasty moments such as these 3 part harmonies. So few do this with any sort of effectiveness… not even the 3 pronged guitar attack of Maiden have successfully pulled this off. This CDR release is our first glimpse into the new musical direction of Rory H., love it or hate it, and as he leaves black metal far behind, it’s going to be interesting to see where his mind and drug experimentation will lead us next. – Marty
ACIDVICTIM RECORDS
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