We love music reviewer adjectives:
"growling, howling, noise rock, loud, indie, arty punk, weirdness, odd, disjointed, off-beat, manic, tribal, super-deep, freaky, metal-edged, crafty, darkly trippy, squalling, rumbling, post-core rock n roll, experimental, intense, nasty, bleak, gnarly mayhem, diverse, complex, raging, pulsating, open-minded, heavy, hard, mindbending, and real."
Men are Monkeys, Robots Win
From the first glistening sound of Intriot, Season to Risk tells us that this record will be crisp, tight and slightly tamer than 'In a Perfect World.'
After a record label dispute, STR left Columbia in search of a new label. They shopped around for about a year and landed a deal with Thick Records.'Men are Monkeys, Robots Win' is the first creation for the newly signed foursome from the country's heartland. GAMEOVER comes crashing out of the intro on the one with the crack of a snare and the harsh reality of distortion . We soon learn that Season to Risk has been quietly incubating an offspring and the offspring has finally sprung. With swift speaking execution the instruments gather their full thrust as the CD LCD gauge reads '3.' David's sine wave/plaid shirt approach to drums surfaces on UNDERSELF. David splatters the chorus sections with a traffic jam of toms and ride cymbal bells tying the beat together with the high hat on the quarter of each bar. The onslaught continues with the staple Season to Risk grind.
The next track offers us something brand new from S2R, a song we can sing along to - a song we can bounce along to- a song we can play for our girl friends and they won't get mad. Yes, OVER THEN OUT has a hook to it. The major hook, other than the lyrics during the chorus, is the driving groove culminating with the eighth note pause on the 4 and of the bar. Robots Wins can best be described as a cross between 'Season to Risk' and 'In a Perfect World.' It has that pulsating feel of 'In a perfect world' with the intricate counter-melodies of 'Season to Risk.' But, I refuse to give the rest of the record away to you, it's like giving away the ending of 'Sixth Sense or My Best Friend's Wedding. Anyway, please enjoy this record. And we all know that to enjoy it means to buy it.
Men Are Monkeys. Robots Win
On Men Are Monkeys, Season To Risk has continued its use of distorted bass, driving drums, manic guitar dissonance and impassioned vocal delivery. But, a keener sense of balance between the melody and the heaviness has heightened the effect of their songs. Electronic elements have creeped their way into s2r's songs, not in the dance friendly flavor of the day variety, but more in the what the hell is wrong with my stereo, head full of static way.
CMJ's Weekly Industry Mag:
"..metal for recovering indie rockers."
Season To Risk has always been one of those bands that never sacrificed smarts and angular rock for the sake of its meat n potatoes muscularity. In fact, the quintet somehow achieves the perfect (albeit delicate) balance between the two. Despite bouncing around from label to label over the course of its existence, Shattering is Season To Risk at its finest, doling out maximum dosages of squalling distortion, rumbling basslines and post-core rock n roll abandon. While the abrasive Shattering undeniably sounds like it came from the early 90s (former Babes In Toyland nemesister Kat Bjelland even lends her yesteryear shriek to Or Highwater) with its unpolished, yet thoroughly skull-hammering abundance of clattering guitars, the choppy, stop-start riffs give the album its extremely current edge. In fact, Shatterings turbulent tunes, like Ace Of Space, Spasser, and Mono Fuego could arguably be considered metal for recovering indie rockers. Heres to the future. - Amy Sciarretto
The Shattering (Owned and Operated Records)
Jazzy hardcore? That may sound funny, but it’s one of the first thoughts to enter your head when hearing ‘The Shattering.’ Chaotic, but in a controlled way, Season to Risk perform the music on their latest offering with an eerie syncopation, keeping the music hardcore, with a punk feel, but adding diverse and complex elements in the music, making the tunes far from noise, but at the same time difficult to digest in just one listen. Verily, it takes multiple listens of ‘The Shattering’ to imbibe the CD into your consciousness, and with each successive listen you will find yourself still picking up new things that you hadn’t noticed previously. A treat in the sense that it’s not your typical hardcore offering, Season to Risk are also toeing a fine line, as many casual fans or "true" hardcore fanatics may find this too rich for their blood. Still, kudos for trying. And if you’re open-minded enough to allow yourself to be perplexed, you just may find this album to be one of the unpolished gems of 2001. <A. Ristic> -8-
Season to Risk -The Shattering "...a quiet triumph in every sense of the word."
With yet another new lineup in tow, S2R continue to expound on their characteristically stuttering pulsing POWER-rock through more dynamic restraint and, most obviously, the vintage synth destruction that was hinted at on The Shatterings predecessor. If S2R could have ever been accused of foregoing songcraft in favor of pummeling their instruments and the listeners' eardrums, that charge gets thrown out here, as smartly accessible tracks like the demanding Demand, the ace Ace of Space, the angular Straight and Narrow, and the deserving Deserve render the band's maturing dynamic contour and deliberate restraint most admirably, communicating on infinitely more emotional levels than just mere anger or rage, with a tinge of downered melody thrown in for good measure. Likewise, the studio-quartet/live-quintet all try their hand at taming the synthesizer all throughout The Shattering with mostly rewarding results, the finest examples being the terrifyingly tense Or Highwater and Despair.
Their sound still intact, this relatively new dimension to the S2R fold fleshes out the dark underpinnings that've always gurgled beneath their surface and, as a whole, allows them to bubble forth like molten lava (most subtle example: the tribal-mantra sketch of Spasser). Elsewhere, we get prime Season to Risk - lurching bass, stumbling yet forceful drums, chiming slicing guitars, and Steve Tulipana's vaguely British vocals, conveying that all is not necessarily good and well in their hearts and minds; basically, a quiet triumph in every sense of the word. With that in mind, for as contractually and personnally troubled as S2R have been during the past decade, it's awe-inspiring to see them succeed so grandly as they do here. So how does this all fare for the discerning metalhead? After all, The Shattering hardly cozies up to the conventional definition of heavy metal. But, for those heads who pine for the lost wisdom of 90s Killing Joke or Prong, this should be right up their alley - or, the respective allies of more adventurous bangers. And, likewise, the boundaries of heaviness have been increasingly broadened with each passing year, so it's high time we extreme-dwellers advance with the much-welcomed evolution or resign ourselves to primate status: whose side are you on? Let's hope the robots don't win. [Nathan T. Birk] Digital Metal
Season to Risk – The Shattering (Owned & Operated records)
by Kurt Brighton
Perhaps the best indication that a band is doing something new and genuinely interesting is when music critics thrash around in desperation looking for other bands to compare it to. Season to Risk has been associated most often with Jesus Lizard -- probably because of Steve Tulipana's growling, howling vocals. But the band has also been compared to Helmet, Tool, Pantera, Fugazi, Henry Rollins, Voivoid, the Sex Pistols, Bad Brains, Cop Shoot Cop and Unsane, sometimes all in the same article. To see the regal music scribe reduced to such grasping must be satisfying indeed to a band long known for straddling genres. Season to Risk is somewhere in the neighborhood of noise rock, loud indie rock and arty punk. But this neighborhood is definitely on the wrong side of the tracks, and the band would probably burn it down given half a chance. The Shattering, Season's first release on the Fort Collins-based Owned & Operated Records, blends these elements into a nasty, bleak stew that rages against the modern world's unending mission to crush the spirit out of humanity. And they make it fun, too.
Painting musical pictures that seem to outline the sickness that dwells between the crumbling walls of blasted gray cityscapes -- as well as between the sun-dappled green lawns of suburbia -- Season to Risk emerges on The Shattering a more mature and fully fleshed-out band. The band still plays with guts via the pounding, relentless rhythm section it's always had, but it is the deviations from more typical song forms that are most interesting. Granted, there's all kinds of weirdness here: odd, disjointed rhythms; manic, shouted tribal chants; super-deep, freaky vocals that cannot be endured when a listener is taking certain substances. But on songs like "Despair," for instance, the band creates a slower, darkly trippy sonic walkabout, the rhythm for which sounds like it was created by someone banging on a broken car door with a hammer.
If the apocalypse is to be televised, The Shattering should be the soundtrack.
Gathering Storm, jamesinman.com
There's an old Zen koan... What's the sound of one hand clapping? When someone asked me about Season to Risk... I thought... Ah! Good question... What's the sound of carpet-bombing? What's the sound of fifteen grenades exploding inside your skull? If you were to survive an atomic blast what would the shock wave sound like? I suppose I could compare Season to Risk to a workingman's Nine Inch Nails or Marilyn Manson without the makeup... I thought of System of a Down on acid... But I think System of a Down IS on acid... So that doesn't quite explain it... I saw Season to Risk live at the Hurricane in Kansas City and it all seemed to make sense... Every song is like a giant storm and the short pause between each break is the eye of the storm... You're in a lifeboat and you just made it through the maelstrom and then another terrible roar... Huge locusts are swooping and diving around the raft... There's some kind of machine in the sky that you can't explain... Your hair is standing on end... Your jaw drops and your eyes widen to try and understand it all... More waves are crashing... You check the rigging and pull yourself over to the man selling CDs during the show but they're already sold out... He's yelling, "Please remain calm... I think you can find it on Amazon!" This group has it strapped down tight... Just make sure you bring a life jacket and industrial grade raincoat if you buy this CD...
For Kansas City music fans, missing the White Stripes was worth the Risk.
BY ANDREW MILLER
Plenty of time has passed since Season to Risk emerged with its influential debut discs -- more than thirteen years, in fact....the band revisited this period, with Paul Malinowski (later of Shiner) returning to his post as bassist and David Silver arriving from Boston to man the drum kit. This reunited rhythm section still pulsed with the industrial efficiency of an assembly line, and the group's choruses sounded like an automated worker blowing a circuit and terrorizing factory hands...
Fellow rockers made their usual show of support, with members of Life and Times, Overstep and Moaning Lisa dotting the crowd, and lots of just-plain fans celebrated their years of devotion to S2R by singing along and, in one case, flashing the stage.
Mean Dean – Pitch.com, KCMO
"Too often, Season to Risk gets lumped in with experimental indie rock," Edington rants. "Bow down and respect Season to Risk, for fuck's sake. Their new record is so phenomenal, and they never get to play in front of hardcore kids. I want to let them know that this isn't your older brother's irrelevant band. They're here, and they're going to crush you."'Season To Risk -- The Shattering -- This record is a testament of the importance of persistence and timing in music. It came along at JUST the right time for me and I've been so impressed by it. This is Steve and Co.'s best record yet. If this were a fair world, they'd be all over the radio.'
Season To Risk - The Shattering (Owned & Operated, Noise rock) Baby Sue review
"...heavy, hard, mindbending, and real."
Another excellent release from one of the great loud and noisy rock bands of our time, Season To Risk. Unlike other great loud and noisy rock bands, for some reason unknown to us this band has yet to reach a large audience. A few years back we were at a very small club to see another band and Season To Risk just happened to be on the bill. Because we weren't very familiar with the band, we were not expecting very much. From the moment Season To Risk launched into their first tune they had us completely mesmerized and under their control. Not only do these guys play like holy hell, but they have major presence...something that makes their live shows something that you do not want to miss. Ever since that show, we have had great respect for this band. The Shattering is probably S.T.R.'s best release yet as it captures the band's live sound but also corrals the chaos so that the songs shine through clearly. Interestingly (and appropriately), this album was recorded by Bill Stevenson and Jason Livermore. The sound is crisp and sharp. And despite the fact that the tracks are noisy, this is by far the most melodic collection of tunes yet from Season To Risk. If you like it heavy, hard, mindbending, and real, you owe it to yourself .
SEASON TO RISK: THE SHATTERING
I don't know what they are putting in the Kansas City drinking water, but it seems to be producing a slew of hard hitting, intelligent, noise rock bands who continually kick ass. Like cousins Shiner, Season to Risk takes heavy metal into the next decade, updating its sound, rhythm and vocal textures. The Shattering stimulates and agitates and is best if digested according to the instructions on the CD: play loud.
The opening title track introduces us to singer Steve Tulipana and his sing-shout method of spit-firing the lyrics. Thick, deep bass lines from Billy Smith pulse along underneath the vicious but tasty drum work by David Silver. Recorded at The Blasting Room in Fort Collins, The Shattering retains an indie, low-budget sound while being anything but. Crisp, powerful production adds to the weight of the music, incorporating the compelling pop melodic sensibility and the abrasive, dissonant crunching of Duane Trower's guitars. A great track is "Spasser," just a monster of a tune ... off-beat rhythms and power chords, simple howling and gnarly mayhem. It's followed nicely by "Deserve," a dark, ironic tune about relationships and all their glory and gore.
This is another offering from Owned and Operated Recordings from Fort Collins. Season to Risk has endured line-up changes, wrecked tour vehicles, floods, major label goofiness, and evictions, and still they tour relentlessly and make solid records. --Judy B.
The Shattering (Owned and Operated, 2001) returns to rock
Season to Risk has been around for years. They’ve seen a million faces, rocked them all, and left most of them wondering, “what the Hell was that?” with a strong impression which is surely lasting if nothing else. It’s both a wonder they’ve made it this far and a strange thought to imagine KC without them. After all, music this dissonant doesn’t sit well with most people, and too many other area bands have been influenced by them and/or lured away former members of S2R for most local music fans to not have an opinion about them directly or indirectly. The band has evolved through various stages of hardcore/metal, avante-garde/experimental, and even industrial, electronic-based sub-genres (as various members became involved in other projects). How does such a group represent themselves in about an hour-long live performance? Which band will appear on the upcoming album? Could the essence of each album/stage even be completely represented? This time, they spent most of their time playing the guitar-based stuff.
Steve Tulipana and Duane Trower are the remaining members from the old days, but they show no less enthusiasm or signs of slowing down. Tulipana is still among the most energetic and stage-savvy frontmen in this area or anywhere. Trower offset his serious energy and concentration on his playing with his guitar’s Yugo emblems and occasional sarcastic displays of rock and roll salutes and facial expressions. Likewise, new bassist Billy Smith aggressively grinded out the low end of the intense noise-rock songs, but appeared eclipsed in size by his white Explorer-style axe. Drummer David Silver tirelessly pounded the rhythmic foundation for the noise orgy and clearly loved every minute of it. So did the mass of noise-crazy Kansas Citians. --Mark C
Kansas City Star - Thursday, Aug 23, 2001
One of Kansas City's loudest, oldest and most uncompromising bands, Season still traffics in hardcore mayhem and scabrous, high-speed aggression ("National Gomorrah"). But in several places, like "Ace of Space," the noise is more orthodox, so the melody, as it were, has room to breathe. Most interesting are the four tunes toward the middle of the disc that interact like an informal suite: "Spasser" is a scintillating blast of gothic psychedelia, and the next three -- "Deserve," "Despair" and "Demand" -- are interlocking etudes in dissonance and trippy vocal/lyrical experiments from Steve Tulipana, who has more flavors of rant and scream than any singer I've ever listened to. "Straight and Narrow" is more standard S2R hard-rock/industrial punk, but that's a setup for what's up next: the blindsiding horror-jazz tornado "Mono Fuego." Ex-Babe in Toyland Kat Bjelland steps in for a campy cameo on "Or Highwater," a trippy industrial-glam rocker. But no one overshadows the singer or the band behind him: guitar wiz Duane Trower and the barnstorming rhythm section of Billy Smith on bass and David Silver on drums. The album ends with a burst of calm, "Cease to Exist," which must be a pun on the S2R name and not a forecast because this band sounds like it could rage on forever.
SEASON TO RISK - Upstairs at Nick's, Philadelphia, PA
Well the fellas from Kansas City were back in Phily for one more night. The stormtroopers of dissonance were on parade and ready to rock. This was to be the fourth to the last show on their long tour of these Great United States supporting their third major release, Men are Monkeys, Robots Win on Thick Records. Duane, guitar, was not wielding his usual Gibson SG, but some strange instrument with one really big knob.
Steve, vocals and guitar, had his usual guitar and smiling angst on display. And for once in S2R's history the bass and drums are the same for the live performance as they were for the record. Josh's, bleached blonde hair has been dyed black. And David had to borrow Buzzoven's cymbals because his cymbal bag was lying somewhere in an alley way in NYC. But phased was not he as the blonde beat machine marched on adding notes and pulses where they just shouldn't be.
S2R started off the night with the effects of a long road stint showing on their faces, but about two or three songs into the gig, the electricity and charisma was just propelling itself towards the dumbfounded crowd. The set consisted of a perfect mix of new stuff and old stuff. In fact even thrown into the mix was the one song I had been waiting three years to see live, Dawgs (off of their 1st Columbia release). S2R dove right into the intro of Dawgs and never looked back. Man it was, to quote an 8th grader, "awesome." The four pistons were in full steam driving our souls and minds to another planet once again. They played a slightly shortened set because of their position on the bill, but even 40-min. of S2R still makes a grown man act like a child.
At the end of the performance, I caught up with Steve and Josh who were perched over their refreshments like two ravens. They both told me of how they drove from Arizona to Seattle without brakes on their van. I asked Steve if he could tell a little bit a bout the difference of being on Thick as opposed to Columbia. He said that he really enjoyed being on a label that cares about them. It's more gratifying to be on a smaller label who is willing to pay attention to a band rather than a large label where numbers are the only care they cast, said.
I also found Dave resting his hands and head a few stools down. He explained the '23' conspiracy and it's impact on the band and the past.
The fellas are back in KC by now, unless something serious happened to their van. They are going to chill for a while, but soon will start writing new stuff. If you are lucky enough to have a record store that carries Men are Monkeys, Robots Win, please count your blessings, praise capitalism and buy the record. It's well worth it. And keep a sharp eye out for the next time S2R blasts into town. Written By: Geoff @ SlenderMusic
Overstep/Season to Risk show in Monroe, LA
Let's just say that last night was mythical. mythical. Overstep simply rocked our poor little smelly town to a new level. Pulsing rhythm and calculated dissonant arrangements with stellar drumming and coy, sinister vocals. And they were LOUD. find their music and get it immediately. Then their was Season to Risk. They were a wall of sound. I couldn't even pay attention to everything that was going on because i was truly engaged in the whole experience. Steve Tulipana, the lead singer made you believe that he would seriously injure himself/expose himself/ injure someone else. and he made you like it. The night ended with a hazy dream, flashing lights of angry police, threatening, but overall benign. Much like the show itself, which shook its fist and was brutal by the sheer force of it all, but was a refreshing, renewing experience.
Season To Risk - In a Perfect World - Martin Bate
Woah. Cheese wire guitars. Bass rumble. Clenched guitar screech. Rattling drums. Throaty, threatening vocals.
Think the darkness of Cop Shoot Cop, the upbeat snarl of the Jesus Lizard, the unremitting weight of the Melvins. Chuck in a little Big Black and No Means No and newer elements such as Quicksand, Girls Against Boys (it's the way that bass *rumbles*), Clutch. Ha ha.
Opener "Jack Frost" spits and snarls over strangled harmonics and a spiralling mix of Jesus Lizard funk and Fugazi chorussing. All these influences make them sound like themselves even though you know the area they're operating in.
Lyrically, it's all pained, wordy stuff. But fuck the lyrics, it's the *sound*. A few good stick-out phrases are all that's important sometimes.
"Absolution" - Pantera dragged through Shellac. "Terrain Vague", looping and building until the masochistic squeals come as blessed relief. Played loud, it damages. "Future Tense" - if you can avoid jerking at least one part of your body through moments such as the staccato finish then you`re already dead.
The raging can get a little wearing even if the dynamics are frequently breathtaking.
Fists don't come much more clenched than this, the guitar necks are gripped tight enough to snap. Buy it for those special pissed-off days.
SEASON TO RISK - In a Perfect World (Columbia)
The second and final release on Columbia for the quartet out of Kansas City. Compared to the previous release In a Perfect World takes Season to Risk into a darker more mysterious realm. Filled with dreamscaped swords and Cold Johns. I think Season to Risk did what they wanted with this record. It is doubly confusing and strenuous to listen to. But that's what i love so much about this band. They say "Piss-off" to the spoon-fed audiences of today's music listening generation.
Remarkable interplay between the three instruments and raucous vocals by Steve create power and intrigue. It's just the record i slip in when i need to get somewhere in a hurry or i have all night to do nothing, but try to figure out what the hell Duane is doing.
SEASON TO RISK - 1st Album (Columbia)
Season to Risk's first Columbia recording. Each song is masterfully crafted. Flickerings of metal edged riffs, crafty drum parts and driving bass smatter the album while an underlying beauty and grace mold this record into a thick solid massive creation. This album contains one of my favorite guitar riffs ever. "Dogs" track four's main theme is totally above and beyond most guitarist in the fashionable world of rock and roll. Written By: Geoff @ SlenderMusic
Season to Risk (self-titled debut)
For a long time, since discovering music, i wondered what caused me to enjoy it. i am not quite certain that i have discovered a concrete answer, but one thing rests affixed in the concoction of ground gravel, water, and whatever else needed to make concrete. i enjoy rhythms and subtle melodies.
Season to Risk delivers these ingredients better than any band i have heard. Hailing from the Mid-western city of Kansas City, the (ever changing) foursome winds and ties and twines and binds (or any other wording equivalency for bondage, rope, and tightness) power, grace, passion, intelligence, skill, and confusion into a thick ball of twine- the real abrasive 99 cent twine. i first heard them when a good Russian friend slipped their self-titled Columbia release into my tape deck. i sat, or actually squatted, in front of the twin-spinning mechanism, with a churning sensation of my own inside my stomach, mind, and soul.
The first song i had the pleasure of listening to was, MINE EYES. i am having a difficult time relaying the experience only because of the grandiose scale on which it perched. STR emanates magic through speakers into the mind. As a drug free citizen, i know not off the effects of mind altering substances, on a first hand basis. But this song, was doing some weird crap to my head. Duane Trower's guitar weaving layer upon layer of confusion, while Chad Sabin (drums) and Paul Malinowski (bass) glued it all together. On top of all that lies, Steve Tulipana's gut wrenching vocals. Intelligent and thought provoking.
Needless to say, i continued listening and continued being mesmerized.
Although, Season To Risk, has lost two drummers and a bassist during their history. The new line up seems to be concrete and hopefully stay together for a long time. The drummer, David Silver took over during the In a Perfect World Tour. Since then, they have added bassist, Josh Newton . He played guitar in Glazed Baby and had a short stint playing guitar in the UNSANE. Since the initial listening trauma, I have seen Season to Risk four times. Each of the shows had similarities such as: me jumping and screaming along with the band's inescapable pulse, and 20 or so others standing there holding their ears. Well, actually one night in Philly at Upstairs at Nicks, the crowd was very responsive. The look of satisfaction on the band singed my brain and i knew why these guys do this. It's not for the money, which compared to most bands of Season's caliber, is enough for coffee and a doughnut every other day. It's not for the fame, well at least i don't think so. It's for the music. Pure music. Unadulterated music. Simply the music. They love it!!
Written By: Geoff @ SlenderMusic
EMusic
genres :: metal/hardcore, comedy/performance art, punk/hardcore
Similar to :: killing joke, jesus lizard, unsane, fugazi, black flag, stooges, no means no, laughing hyenas, big black, bad brains, bauhaus, sonic youth, the who, and the kinks.
Tervitus. Season To Risk on vähetuntud bänd, millest kuskil eriti informatsiooni saadaval ei ole - isegi Alta-Vista leidis ainult mõned üksikud (õiged) vasted. See lehekülg on kokku pandud neist üksikutest saitidest ja plaatidest...
Season To Risk viljeleb juba 11 aastat hardcore-punki, kuid suurt edu ta mingil imelikul põhjusel saavutanud ei ole. Igaljuhul soovitan tõmmata mõne MP3-e ja kuulata - äkki meeldib. Kuigi kõik lood on head, soovitan siiski Mine Eyes'i, Dogsi ja Why SeeStraighti.
Lisage oma kommentaar ka minu külalisteraamatusse.
Kokkuvõtteks peaks praegune bändikoosseis olema järgmine:
Steven Tulipana: laul
Duane Trower: kitarr
David Silver: trummid
Joshua Newton: bass
Lehekülje autor M.F., e-mail: madja50@hotmail.com
Il grunge "progressivo" dei Season To Risk, formazione di Kansas City (Missouri), non e` mai riuscito a mantenere le ambizioni del gruppo ma ha rappresentato un capitolo interessante nella definizione di un suono post-punk.
Le canzoni di Season To Risk (Columbia, 1993) sono difficili da distinguere l'una dall'altra. Il complesso tenta in continuazione di costruire una tensione spasmodica (riff di hard-rock, basso inquietante, batteria psichedelica) attorno a una melodia innocua (Mine Eyes, Snakes), ma il sound rimane quasi sempre un confuso accumulo di gesti sonori, una sorta di incrocio fra Nirvana e Big Black ma senza il vibrante pathos dei primi e senza il genio brutale dei secondi. L'energia e` tanta che la musica sembra dissonante, anche se le sue parti non lo sono.
In A Perfect World (Sony, 1995) continua su quei toni truculenti e con quelle atmosfere claustrofobiche, e soprattutto con quelle armonie caotiche e rumorose. Il senso di horror latente, affidato a riff ossessivi e cadenze singhiozzanti, e` la loro specialita` (Jack Frost, Bloodugly), ma forse il gruppo ha trovato una vocazione piu` intrigante con lo sfogo volitivo e torrenziale di Nausea e con i sette minuti di cacofonie e tempi moribondi di Vertical Drive. All'istrionismo del cantante Steve Tulipana si devono diversi alcuni numeri da manicomio: le voci urlano un rap da ubriachi sul passo di carica panzer di Remembered, un delirio di predicatori invasati sovrasta il chiasso gratuito di Absolution, e Invisible Me sbraita senza ritegno disperazione e frustrazione.
Il gruppo si fa vivo a intermittenza. Men Are Monkeys Robots Win (Thick, 1998) e` ancor piu` sperimentale dei precedenti (con impiego massiccio dell'elettronica), e suonato in maniera ancor piu` competente.
http://www.amazon.com/Men-Are-Monkeys-Robots-Win/dp/B000007QP0/