Review Summary: Oh, Jono...what happened!?
In pretty much every activity and scene imaginable, there are the casual fans, the amateurs, and the extremists. The Internet music scene is no different. There are those bands who make casual use of online resources, those who actively use iTunes and MySpace to further their career, and then there are those who use the Internet as the sole vehicle of transmission of their product to the public.
Nowhere is this tendency best exemplified than with Jono Bacon's one-man thrash metal project, Severed Fifth. Being a consumate geek, the community manager for Linux-related website Ubuntu decided to put his computer skills into use in the promotion of his solo project. Thus the concept for Severed Fifth was born, a concept where everyone is free to download the music, then may contribute for the continuation of the project if they so desire; otherwise, they can just keep and enjoy the tunes. But while the group's debut, 2008's promising
Denied By Reign, made the listener want to contribute to Bacon's cause, follow-up
Nightmares By Design, released this October, is predictably a let-down, and only makes one wish Bacon would stop making music altogether.
Not that
Denied By Reign was the perfect album, either; but while it did have some flaws - derivativeness and a certain lack of structure chief among them - it managed to overcome them and make them charming to the listener.
Nightmares By Design, on the other hand, is just an absolute mess, with very few redeeming qualities through the course of its eleven songs.
Now, the first thing one will notice when playing the record for the first time is the change in musical style. Bacon had promised something more melodic for his second album, and he delivers on that promise, with the previous blend of Fear Factory and Machine Head gone in favour of a flat-out thrash metal approach. In fact, if not for the presence of increasingly deathly growls,
Nightmares By Design would be a full-on Bay Area thrash album, with Bacon's influences now lying firmly in the underground. Lesser known bands like Hirax, Wargasm or Heathen may be a good comparison for what is heard here; however, the additional death vocals give this an even more underground edge, making Bacon sound exactly like a myriad of variably crappy, unknown death-thrash metal bands. This cause is certainly not helped by the songs, which are, in one word, uninspired.
In fact,
Nightmares possesses none of
Denied By Reign's songwriting appeal. The musicianship and vocal work may be vastly improved, but the song structures themselves exacerbate all the problems found on the group's debut. Half of these songs are barely given time to develop their innate potential, seemingly ending as soon as they began (
End Of Days); the rest just meander aimlessly past the seven-minute mark, predictably going nowhere and leaving the listener with a slightly revolting sense of boredom.
Politicold has an interestingly tecchy solo, but it's lost amongst another perfectly pedestrian song, and even an attempt at replicating
War, the absolute standout from the previous album (with
Forgotten Heroes) comes across sounding half-hearted and hackneyed. Amidst all this, what little motives of interest the album has are concentrated on songs such as
Drill Deep (possibly the only fully satisfying song on here) or
Repent. The result is a jumbled mess, as far removed from the debut's promise as a camel is from a turtle.
In conclusion, then
Nightmares By Design is a vastly underwhelming album, which represents a shot in the foot for the once-promising Severed Fifth project. Jono Bacon's influences seem more legitimate this time around, but the lack of formulaic constraints only highlights the fact the man can't write a song worth a damn. If you were thinking of contributing to this project after enjoying the previous album, don't; Bacon may use the money to crap out another turd like this. Avoid.
Recommended Tracks
Drill Deep
Repent
Download it offficially and for FREE here: http://www.severedfifth.com/releases/
