Title: Teach Me Love
Artist: Schizophrenia
Genre: Industrial
Release Date: 2008
Label: Self-Released
Album Review
First thing is first - The album cover is cringe-worthy. There is nothing worse than a serious photo of silly looking band members, not when the album's booklet art is full of some very nice images that would have done so much better (Pages 7 and 9 in particular would have got my vote).
This is an interesting album by a band with an obviously deviant agenda that seems to include sticking every idea they have in a blender and somehow creating a bunch of pretty catchy songs out of the mess... This agenda also apparently includes releasing little or no information about the band itself. All this aside, what SCHOZOPHRENIA have produced is one of the more interesting albums I've heard recently.
Each song seems to cross genres that range from harsh Industrial to Hardcore Punk and they do so in a fairly fluid way, so rather than being confronted with a myriad of sudden breakdowns or just sounding like a remix album, the listener is teased into listening a little closer to pick them out. Initially I wasn't sure if they were successful in every instance for example: Andy Thorne's vocals are loud and brash in the vein of Wayne Static (of Static-X) and delivered in a barrage of Metalcore style fury. Aside from becoming a little repetitive it does sometime seem like some softer, cleaner vocals would just work better in some areas.
The opening three tracks on the album 'It's', 'Priceless', and 'Checkmate' are probably the weakest out of the eleven. It's hard to describe where exactly they go wrong other than the fact that they seem to lack the focus and execution of the tracks that come later, and as such just seem to fall short of the mark. 'Milkshake' however instantly picks up the album with its pulsing beats, great guitar riff and rousing chorus. It is one of the more conventional songs on the album but it does emphasise that these guys are seasoned musicians. There is a quick break courtesy of the first of the two short instrumental tracks, which sound like Aphex Twin remixing Nine Inch Nails, and then the album begins to come into its own.
'Dry water' is another of the albums more conventional and straight industrial rock tracks, but as with 'Milkshake' it is another display of some solid song writing with another great chorus. 'N / 0' seems to be more of that Metalcore influence with a fast punky pace and big chorus over some of the less exciting synthesizer examples on the album - while it is in essence a good song it does rob the album of some momentum. The next track 'Democracy Sucks' would be a great example of Industrial in anyone's book and is probably a fantastic one for the live circuit. Another, more ambient instrumental precedes the title track which itself seems to be chopped into two halves and does try to to do an awful lot more than it delivers. The final track on the album 'End.' again tries to do an awful lot, but this time the band succeeds in creating a fantastic instrumental Industrial track which is one of the most memorable parts of the album.
SCHOZOPHRENIA are a band that are firmly routed in that now rare area of Industrial that grafts big ideas to conventional song structures in order to both entice and confound the listener. Sometimes they succeed in their attempts and other times they find themselves just lacking the exclamation point, but it's certainly a good effort in an area most musicians fear to tread.
Track list
01. It's
02. Priceless
03. Checkmate
04. Milkshake
05. End;
06. Dry Water
07. N / 0
08. Democracy
09. Vuoto IN
10. Mother Screen Teach Me To Love
11. End.
Line-up
Andy Thorne
Marco Guglielminetti
Emanuele Mannocci
Giacomo Nannicini
Websites
http://www.schizophrenia.it/ / www.myspace.com/schizophr3nia
Album Cover
Rating
Music: 6.5
Sound: 7
Extras: -
Total: 7 / 10
{jos_sb_discuss:19}
Comments powered by CComment