Worm Gear

I find it peculiar that out of the countless digital promo materials that stop up our bandwidth in the Worm dungeon like Taco Bell aftershocks in a dark and dingy toilet at the Maryland Deathfest say midnight, day #3, that my interest would pause long enough here, on the self endeavored release by The Senseless, for it to take root and demand for a few desperate paragraphs to be unearthed from the mess in my head. For one, “The Floating World” lurks and shifts between many worlds of creativity on a musical level, and even though the core foundation is a pretty amazing form of grinding death, there is an unshakable… dare I say “commercial” flavor to this album that feels like a definite paradigm shift in terms of metal machismo/seriousness. In other words… this musical project isn’t within a style of metal I gravitate to often.
The Sensless is the solo effort by ex-Berzerker member Sam Bean and even though I long ago wrote that band off as fodder in a sea of technologically distracted and soulless bands to arise out of the early 00’s, this material is far from digital wallpaper in a kooky mask. The bottom line is… Sam can write deeply penetrating and technically amazing riffs/songs that grow on the listener quickly due to their clarity and Earth’s axis shifting hooks. The parts are mainly tremolo picked speed insanity, yet pulse and flow in and out of mean sounding pop sensibilities baring bloody death metal teeth. Add the mind blowing mathematical arachnoid drum performance of Mithras drummer Leon Macey to further ignite the clarity on this release with unbelievable speed and agility. Speed doesn’t always mean cleanliness, but in this case, Leon’s performance acts as the plastic cover lining your Grandmother’s pristine 60 year old couch, allowing the fullness in the guitar tone to fill the sound spectrum with a detuned organic warmth that invites you to relax and let the waves of memorable head crushing fury cleanse the soul. After the halfway point on this album, the grind begins to take a back seat on tracks like “Let Me Sleep” and the title track to more of a laid back groove and flow. Even though the intensity shift is evident, the riffs and overall shape of the songs are no less interesting. If anything, the change, or acceptance of another dynamic is a welcomed display of creative depth while those ever impressive riffs continue to weave atypical harmonies to perplex with interest.
What I have had the hardest time overcoming on my way to full enjoyment of The Senseless, has been Sam’s coherent, partially gritty, mostly clean shouting style. He can and does dig in with deep death gutturalizations or the occasional crusty grind shriek, but those genre defining deliveries are low in attendance. The punk yell is what you’re going to get here and it does rub off on the material at times highlighting more punk/hardcore movement in the riff salad and lyrical themes that seem to be more everyday life oriented or even a bit silly. The diehard in me yearns for more of the filth to surface vocally, but after repeated listens I can appreciate the fact that Sam’s vocal choices ultimately add to the uniqueness and power of this material. Yes, at the beginning I found myself wishing a lot of these songs were instrumental since the brilliant tales the riffs tell could have almost been enough to sustain me, but I worked past this speed bump to arrive at complete enjoyment.
It took a few head scratching moments to realize the vibe I was gleaning off this album before arriving at a dirtier, faster, more instrumentally gifted Devin Townsend? Yep. The Sensless do come off as that level of “hip”/too cool for this school musical loftiness, but the music at hand is often so good/enjoyable, that I think a free pass on the egotistical pat on irony’s back is ok this time around. The Floating World has been a surprising and downright fun/interesting break from my dreary norm. If the songwriting and insane talent isn’t enough to move you, maybe you need to let go of the lack of underground barbarism and enjoy the music for what it is… damn impressive. -Marty
Self Released
http://thesenseless.bandcamp.com

~ by martyworm on May 22, 2013.

Posted in ALL REVIEWS, S-reviews
Tags: Berzerker, Marty Rytkonen, Mithras, Sam Bean, The Floating World, The Senseless