Review Summary: This ain't no Ed, Edd, N Eddy
Once upon a time when I was a growing teenager bustling with angst and as we all know discovering music is a tricky thing. I’ve never seen a soul starting out buying a Circle Takes the Square, or a Converge album. Most people start from angst filled music of their teen-hood, such as the likes of Limp Bizkit, or Godsmack, and slowly (but surely) work their way up. That’s why I see nu-metal as more of an introductory genre then….an actual genre. Once upon a time, all I did was listen to these little man-teens who refused to grow up, and as I slowly grew into heavier music and slowly shedding myself from almost any form of nu-metal. While I can still look back fondly, that doesn’t mean I necessarily want to go back.
V Shape Mind was one of the lesser known nu-metal bands, and on an initial listen, they seem to hold a lot of promise. Apparently lead singer Brad is close friends with Mudvayne frontman Chad and the similarity shows. Both have a gruff, rugged singing voices and high pitched screams (though Brad rarely ever goes anything beyond an angry yell). The instrumentals are less metal-contrived and more along the lines of hard rock, or in a weird sense alternative.
Now the hard problem about finding this album's “highlights” are tough, because while every song might be pretty solid, but they all sound about the same. Distinguishing one song from another can be a daunting task as almost every song seems to follow the usual hard rock formula of “verse 1-chorus-verse 2-chorus”. “Monsters” definitely stands out though as it gives off a different more eerie vibe, and the contribution of Chad’s single scream actually benefited this song in terms of originality. Now I can find something positive to say about each and every song on here, but it’d be the same compliment over and over again, and like calling your girlfriend “cute” every time you see her, it starts to get old.
Like fellow nu-metal act From Zero I happen to have a soft spot for these chaps, but I still can’t ignore the obvious problems that plague this album from front to back. It’s still a pretty good album in it’s own right, there’s not 1 song that fails to be solid, but that’s because they basically put every song down with slightly altered choruses, and riffs. For nu-metal diehards only.
Recommended Tracks-
Monsters
