Puscifer : "Normal Isn't"

In prepping for the album's release Maynard dropped a "gpth" plalist of songs that were supposedly the inspiration for this album, along with the promo shots showing the band in darker make-up, while I am not surprised that he knows who Tones on Tail is, this is not a goth album, though there are more reverb drenched guitars in the opening track, I would not all it goth. In fact, the title track reminds me more of Devo. But you can here slight Gary Numan influence lurking around if you are the kind of savant like I am who can detect these sorts of things to draw that connection.

"Bad Wolf" is the most recent single and finds a bass line as the anchoring holding the groove down. It holds a tension not unlike what A Perfect Circle does at times. Most of what I hear as Bauhaus influence comes from the guitar tones, then it is typically on effects, opening tracks like"Self Evident". It's one of the more driving songs so far. This album feels heavier than the last A Perfect Circle album. "Public Stoning" opens in a way that reminds me more of Fugazi. 

"The Quiet Parts" is more like an A Perfect Circle, as Maynard is singing in his more ballad-ready, subdued voice. "Mantastic" is not sonically anything new, and really, neither is it lyrically just more heavy-handed. It grooves enough so it works from that angle. "Pendulum" feels more like old Depeche Mode without the vocal hooks. "ImpetuoUs" works better as the vocals flow with the music. "Seven One" feels like an interlude from David Bowie's "Outside" album. The last song is live, but it was released on the new "American Pyscho" soundtrack in 2024, so I will count it as new. It's about typical for what you expect from them. I will give this album a 9.5. It has some great grooves, and obviously, Maynard knows what he is doing, and if you like what he does, it delivers. 

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VOWWS : "i'll Fill Your House With an Army"

 

This band has gained a bit of a buzz as they ride a 90s-inspired sound that, at one point, leaned into darkwave and post-punk. However, this time around, they have gained more of an edge, feeling closer to the nu-metal revival. Munky from Korn showing up on the album only gives more evidence in this regard. The album does grow on you. Songs that I had some doubts about the first time I listened to this album do a better job of convincing me that their formula works on the second pass through this album. The album was co-produced by Billy Howerdel of A Perfect Circle. His contributions draw a fair comparison of where this album is heading sonically.

The first three songs circle similar shades of the same mood, with "Silhouettes" being a little more upbeat; things then take a turn towards a more New Order-like pop on "Hurt You". Then move into an even more streamlined turn to the alternative radio sound of the 90s with the Elastica vibe of "The Animator". They get darker for "Casualty" but a couple of songs with darker undertones and creepy moments is not enough to call them a goth band. In fact, it has more in common with Korn when it builds up. 

"Harder to Pretend" is a little more depressive, but a little less focused than the album's strongest moments. This could also describe "I Never Left," which feels like a mash-up of Garbage and Depeche Mode. When things are stripped of the effect and given a more organic feel heading into "One Short," you can hear the grunge undercoating. The pieces fall together better on this one. The album ends with a more trip-hop urgency. Overall, what they are doing here works well and should catapult them to a more prominent place on larger stages I will give this album a 9.5, and see how it grows on me. 

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Gothtober-Billy Howerdel :" What Normal Was "

 The brainchild of A Perfect Circle is back. This is not his first solo effort, as the Ashes Divide band was that as well. The only reason I can presume he is not releasing this as Ashes Divide is due to the departure from rock music here and something closer to Depeche Mode. This should not be surprising as A Perfect Circle covered "People are People" on "Emotive". Where the first track on this album works of a more familiar moodiness, "Free and Weightless" flows with a more grooving dance beat. Though it feels more like new wave, than even Depeche Mode. 

Things gradually get darker on "Ani". This entire album feels gothy in how it reflects on lost love. It is almost dark wave in the pulse of this song. The guitars a very Cure like, but that could be said of most of his work. His vocals are lower and more crooned on this album, there is less of a Maynard feel that you got from when he sang with A Perfect Circle, which given the need for vocal blending is not surprising. Perhaps he is just coming out of that shadow here.    Though on " Beautiful Mistake" he does sing in a higher more introspective manner that is somewhat Radiohead like.  But much like Depeche Mode this is really just dark pop music which is fine with me. Some of the hooks are just really subtle. 

He gets darker again on " Poison Flowers". The programed drums set against the acoustic ones provide a cool dynamic. Production wise this is a beautiful album as all the sounds are capture in an immaculate manner and its a near perfect mix. "Follower" lives up to its title by following more closely the lead set by Depeche Mode.  There is a more introspective breeziness amid the underlying tension of "Bring Honor Back Home" The bulk of the songs are very tightly written, with only a few moments like "EXP" where the atmosphere causes the focus to wander. "Stars" closes the album  with the guitars dropping a slightly more rock tinged color to the overall dynamics of the album. The Gary Numan like vocals are pretty cool.  I will give this album a 9, it's a welcome addition to what he does. 

Puscifer : "Existential Reckoning"

 

The first song falls more in line with the last A Perfect Circle album, softer and more focused on atmosphere, like a more indie lo fi version of Depeche Mode. It is well produced and the vocals sit just right in the mix . They nailed the sound they are going for and Maynard makes an effort that the song writing. Very synth oriented. Not that this project has not always been in that vein, it is not as focused on the groove as "the Conditions of My Parole" .  "Apocalyptical"  finds the vocals dancing around 80s like synth wave. There is more movement to this song so I prefer it to the opener. There is also a more defined guitar riff to this one. Not rock music, but looking in that direction. Things get progressively more interesting with each song. 

A more solid sense of groove develops on "the Underwhelming" . "Grey Area" finds the more synth wave sounds returning , but with more motion in the ocean, and guitar accents to create an almost heavy feel. Then "Theorem" sounds like it was made with children's toys. There are interesting sounds , but not sure it's the best song. "Upgrade" sounds like if androids wrote a song for Depeche Mode. Maynard's voice sounds better on "Bullet Train to Iowa". If he puts effort into it his voice alone can save most songs, the problem is he sometimes wants to wander around the songs. "Personal Prometheus" grew on me, the composition is interesting and subtle. Lyrically it is also one of the strongest songs.

The way the vocals create a narcotic throb with "A Singularity " works well even with the 80s sounds around it. This could very well have been a Phil Collins song with a different approach to the vocals . The pace picks up a little for "Postulous" , that is more than enough groove for me. He finally puts some balls to his voice on "Fake Affront" /You can tell there is some Kate Bush influence on how the vocals fall when the song builds. I like hearing his lower register on the vocal going into the last song. I will give this album a 9.5 as it is one of the best releases from this project, and more interesting  than the last Tool album.

A Perfect Circle : "Eat the Elephant"

It opens with a piano ballad. Production wise it feels different like everything  is more compressed despite not using more rock styled instrumentation here. Maynard's vocals is what you would expect from him, though there are a few phrases where the using a more delicate almost androgynous head register. The guitar shows up for "Disillusioned". Lyrically its more of a social commentary, which splits the difference between Tool and what we have heard from this project in the past. The overall sound is more middle of the road like they are going for what was once called "adult contemporary"...think solo Phil Collins with none of the soul . Marginally more moody, Keenan's vocals are higher on "Contrarian". It has more in common with the Pet Shop Boys than Tool. There are some interesting guitar textures which is more than can be said of the first two songs.

They finally find the edge that has been lost for the first three songs on "the Doomed". The guitars get much more metallic. In fact its a more of a clear cut metal riff than we have heard from them before. It trades off with a tinkling synth riff. There is even tension in the guitar when the distortion pedal is not being so trod upon. "So Long and Thanks for All the Fish" is not the song from "Hitch Hikers Guide". It feels like post-90s David Bowie musically, with harmonized vocals. In fact they name drop both Major Tom and Willy Wonka in this state of the union. "Talktalk" is more of political statement about the "alt-rock" who they ask if they are going to talk like Jesus, to try walking like Jesus. The bloated glut of piano that I would be fine with on a Depeche Mode album continues on " By and Down By the River". Maynard's vocals take on more familiar melodies that will make long time fans a little more comfortable. Though if you have stood by this band over the years I don't think there is enough of a difference in the more middle of the road direction to shake you from their tree.

"Delicious" is more of a traditional rock format. It's also more traditional rock song writing which is odd for this band as it would sound more at home on an Hoobastank album. As if there was not enough ponderous piano on this album they have to include an interlude of more. I think my favorite song on here might be the weird electro groove of "Hourglass" that sounds more like a Puscifer song. "Feathers" is the kind of atmospheric rock power ballad that these guys tend to dish out owing equal parts to the Cure and David Bowie. The guitar tone is really dialed in here and maybe I just pushed my ear buds in further , but the bass on the past few songs in more present in the mix. "Get the Lead" out confirms the piano is here to stay. So lump them in with Tori Amos. There is a weird hip hop element that becomes an undercurrent to the song , but in more of a Massive Attack manner. The song cruises on it's atmosphere rather than building into anything substantial. I'll give this album an 8.5, which is better than most bands on the radio, but their first album and "13th Step" would both be 10s if you want some perspective on how it measures up.

The Forecast for Music in 2018

We will see the year slowly evolve into more apocalyptic sounds. Music is not created in a vacuum. Trends emerge from bands on touring hearing what bands audiences are reacting to then making music that is either a reaction for or against that sound. Djent is dead and buried along side nu-metal as this point with metal core not far behind. They are no longer getting signed by labels with an eye to the future as those band wagons crashed. Also  dead is vest metal and really any super-retro stuff, by that we are talking about 70s, retro is now the 80s and 90s. Even still cock rock is dead as a limp dick, even the godfathers of this would be smart to hang it up at this point. Though W.A.S.P, Whitesnake and Lita Ford are releasing albums this year.What was once stoner rock is going to find itself colored with shades of shoe-gaze or grunge. If you are waiting for the 90s to make a comeback here is where to look. Fu-man Chu and Monster Magnet both have albums coming out the latter was always one foot into grunge any ways.

Crust is going to be the next trend with many of these hybrid grind-core/ punk bands taking the charge to bring in the darker times with more sonic sounds. Not going to be mainstream, but occupy the place in hipster metal that the post-rock influence black metal bands who are not going to fade into the background used to occupy.The two bands likely to break into bigger audiences are Power-Trip and Avatar. Both bands riding the momentum touring generated for them in 2017. Avatar will take the throne from Ghost, when it comes to big gimmicky theatrical metal. The most dangerous band will be Destroyer 666, who will find a larger audience and push buttons against the grain in what has become a climate in metal that has become too safe and tip toeing around being politically correct. Metal should be a middle finger to the world.

Except to see album in the next six months from well a few bands I'm sure but these are ones at at least give half a shit about.

My Bloody Valentine

the Atlas Moth

Hooded Menace

Tribulation

Portal

Therion

Ministry

Sigh

Nachtmystium

Monster Magnet

A Perfect Circle

Interpol

Chvrches

Puscifer : " Money Shot"

Tool used to be one of my favorite bands. A Perfect Circle was up there as well. Puscifer seemed like Maynard's stab at doing his own Massive Attack , but heavy on the jokes. The first album he mainly used his lower range and further separated himself from being the voice of Tool.  First off the album sounds great but sounds best through head phones. More focused on songs and less focused on jokes , with more of an emphasis placed on songs. Closely harmonized with female voices it sounds like this could have been written for a Perfect Circle album that never happened. Former Ministry bassist Paul Barker lays down a groove to "Agostina" is slinky and dark setting the perfect ground work for Keenan to croon over. I don't think Keenan's pipes are going to be in question, he brings the vocals up into a mellower mid-range tenor. "Grand Canyon" is pretty transcendent , but it not as dark as the previous songs so it takes a little to get use to it.

 "Simultaneous" opens with a sampled narrative. Its a less organic composition relying on the synths. Its until four minutes in that vocals comes before the over driven bass line and it turns into a real song. Title track whose video is featured below has a more 90s rock like beat to it. It's not metal or anything like Tool, in fact it's closer to something Tomahawk might do. There is some electronic weirdness that collides with it before going into the second verse. There is more atmosphere to "the Arsonist" that comes close to being a ballad. Lyrically this might be one of the better songs, the line "Your social skills resemble arson". It does build at the chorus and the synths get hard with the bass in manner that Perfect Circle might have been more eager to stomp on the distortion for. The despite the driving drums there is a kraut rock feel to the intro of "the Remedy" before dropping down to an ode to unruly house guests. Things get a shade darker with "Smoke and Mirrors". But this is not the albums most interesting song. In a similar dynamic range somewhere between the Cure and darker electronic the vocal work on "the Life of Brian" works much better.

 Dynamically "Autumn" takes a few cues from the "13th Step" album. Things have found a better balance here. We will see how this one stands the test of time, Puscifer has generally not last long in my iPod as much like his other projects is in a middle ground that I don't normally dwell on. It's either heavy or ethereal and surreal. I think since this is not a rock album that makes "Money Shot" relevant in a way I am afraid the next Tool album won't be if it ever sees the light of day. I'll round it up to a 9.

Top Ten Metal Love Songs

Some of these might straddle the fence between metal and hard rock, but love songs are always more sensitive, which is why there are so few in real metal, and the harder the song the broader the definition of romance.

 10 - Starry Eyes- by Motley Crue
 9 - Flesh Eater by- Lizzy Borden


8 - Thrills in the Night -by Kiss
 
 7 - 120 Days by Genitorturers


 6 - Welcome Home by Coheed and Cambria

 5 - Magdalena by A Perfect Circle

 4- Soul on Fire- Danzig


 3 -"Sleeping in the Fire" by Wasp


2 - Love You to Death by Type O negative


 1 - Here Come the Tears- Judas Priest