MSPAINT : "No Seperation"

The first song on this band's new album seems more focused than what I previously heard from them, even if the rapped vocals are still slightly awkward over the noise that unfolds as the song swells to a crescendo. The vocals still steer them in a more nu-metal direction. The pace picks up on the second song, which works better with what the vocals are doing. The last time I reviewed these guys, I said they were doing their down thing, and this is still true, but polished as the production is on this album, this shifts into a more experimental version of nu-metal. I think the production on this album is the missing piece that was not present on the last one.

 Does this make it something that I am into, not really, but with better production, I can get a clearer picture of who they are and what they are trying to accomplish. The sense of groove in the songwriting is also being perfected on this album. Some of the sounds still contrast greatly, but they fit together much better here. The lyrics are too far on one side of the political spectrum, which makes them too naive to take seriously. "No Separation" is the first song where they throw too much at the wall and it fails to stick as the direction was not clear, and it came across like Temu Linkin Park. 

The vocal approach could also stand to be more varied, as the last song "Angel' works musically, but the vocal approach is rather one-dimensional and bores me a bit. I will give this album an 8.5, as it's an improvement over the previous album and I think this captures a more fully formed vision of what they what to do, it's just not enough of my thing to pull me into it, but this will open up a broader audience for them. It drops on Convulse Records May 23rd. 

pst198