Review Summary: Disappointing on almost every level, Behold... The Arctopus' latest is a jumbled mess of atonal randomness.
It always irks me when people say that technical bands can't write music. Not only are broad generalizations like this usually wrong, but off the top of my head I can think of many technical groups who compose amazing songs:
Necrophagist,
Blotted Science,
The Dillinger Escape Plan,
Spastic Ink.... the list goes on. One band I would have readily included in this list is
Behold... The Arctopus, but unfortunately their latest record
Horrorscension- the subject of this review- is just so bad that I can't do so in good conscience.
This album is completely random and atonal, but not in a good way like much of
Skullgrid, the band's previous release. Behold... The Arctopus was trying way too hard to be faster and more extreme or something, because this is effectively a bunch of unlistenable noise. Every so often something will stand out (a lightning speed solo or a melody) but it only lasts for a second (or two, if you're lucky) before disappearing into a mess of noise again. One would be hard pressed to remember a single thing about this record once it was over, other than the fact that it all blurred together.
It's not even that the performances are bad. They aren't- every member plays their respective instrument well- but unfortunately each is hitting all the right notes in all the wrong places. New drummer Weasel Walter does an admirable job taking over for Charlie Zelleny, but the songs he's playing on here are so poor that his talent is all but wasted. Likewise for the other two members.
Horrorscension truly is horr-endous; a burgeoning cesspool of terrible songwriting and squandered talent. Very disappointing and, quite frankly, bordering on abysmal.
