Mind Over Madder
Terrortory
6.1
So after being straightened out last time I reviewed something sent our way from Gomek about how they work, I’m here to present my second review for the label, which as was pointed out to me offers free downloads of their featured artists. Mind Over Madder is one of their featured acts, and having released their first demo, entitled Terrortory, these boys are looking to make a statement within the thrash metal scene. Although they are looking at a long and upward battle toward making that imprint due to the scene’s overabundance of metal acts currently attempting to push their way into the mix, they do have a solid foundation to build upon.
As is almost always the case these days throughout the entire metal scene, Mind Over Madder is not creating anything mind blowing in the respect of offering a new and scene altering sound. They simply blend thrash elements of acts like Lamb of God with the groove of Pantera and meld in some hardcore rudiments from the likes of Hatrebreed. This can be heard through cutting songs like the opening title track which put things into perspective right from the get go with a simple yet effective opening riff that turns into a head banging groove-fest. Songs like "Blunt Trauma" and "Hate Pattern of Violence" probably represent this band’s songwriting mission the best with the former flourishing a solid yet catchy chorus section with singer Tim E. Wayne screaming the title to the song about midway through with a ferocious and spine tingling delivery. These are the two songs this band needs to use as templates for future offerings. That’s not to say the rest of the songs on Terrortory aren’t pleasurable listens, but they just don’t come across in memorable fashion like these two crushers.
Some things that turn me off, however, would be the spoken word sections that are overused and downright abused. I’ve never been a fan of it and it kind of ruins the vibe when they come around. Not to take anything away from the rest of the band, but Mr. Wayne is the strongest attribute on display here with a very impressive ability to have his searing growls understood much in the same vane as Randy Blythe from the aforementioned Lamb of God, but the spoken word silliness just doesn’t cut it for me. So many growling vocalists these days just go through the motions and unless you have a lyrical sheet in front of you it’s nearly impossible to understand the words. That’s not the case with the vocals here as they are annunciated to perfection. The lyrics can come across as elementary and borderline childish at times, but the fact that they can be understood is impressive in my book. The drumming is mediocre at best and the bass can barely be heard for the most part, but they both do well to back up the bone crushing riffs. There is solid axe work throughout this album but I would like to hear some lead guitar thrown in on these songs, which I think would add a lot more life to the mix. It seems like guitar solos are a thing of the past and a lost art, and maybe I'm too old school, but I think to not have some catchy melodic hooks and an occasional solo is cheating not only yourself as a guitarist/songwriter but your audience and fanbase as well.
In the end this is yet another band that has a potentially promising future based on a few good songs. We’ll see if they can build on that and produce what I’m guessing could very well turn out to be a solid follow up endeavor. I’ll be looking forward to hearing that album in the future. Couple points off on the production for the hissing sound coming through my speakers, but the songwriting is fair and the musicianship is slightly above mediocre. So check this shit out as it is downloadable in its entirety from the good folks over at Gomek.
