Review Summary: What do you get when you mix Grindcore, Deathcore, and Unexpect?
When music becomes so weird, that not even 20 listens could fully understand what just happen, happens. Some music today has become so completely random that you wonder how much of this can continue to go on. How many genre’s will be mixed to the point where nothing will be original? Well the real question is how to make something so wild to something listenable that isn’t some mumbled up mess just for the sake of being different. With a huge underground filled with chaotic genre mixing bands, you would think that maybe a couple of them could get it right…
Iwrestledabearonce is a experimental death/grindcore act from Shreveport, Louisiana that have quickly hit the scene with their first Self-titled Ep. They basically play the standard Deathcore or scene grind style with electronic help much like the band
Genghis Tron but add another element of a eerie atmosphere much like
Unexpect and
Stolen Babies. What Iwrestledabearonce brings to the table is a female vocalist that can sing, low growl and also create high pitched scream that adds to the chaos. Then add the standard two guitarists, a bass player, a drummer and a keyboardist/sampler.
Krysta Cameron - Vocals
Steven Bradley - Guitar/Programming
John Ganey - Guitar/Programming
Brian Dozier - Bass
Daniel Andrews - Keys/Samples/Programming
Mikey - Drums
There are three major paces that this Ep will bring upon including the standard chaotic grind, melodic riffs with clean singing, and your Deathcore segments with breakdowns galore. The standouts about this band is even though they are somewhat crazy and erratic they always seem to get back on track by the end of the song. While they still need some work on how to mix their style they still showcase a lot of talent in playing. Their riffs are a mixed bag some have the fast picking technical riffs, while others are slow in melodic that appear when Krysta uses her singing vocals. From what I can tell the drumming is well executed but leaves to suspicion that some of the drum work especially the double bass pedal is programmed at times. Even if that may be, the drumming is still one of the highlights of this Ep. The best talent is displayed by Krysta that seems to know exactly how to portray each part of every song. She has a great singing voice, and some solid screaming vocals that can range from a high screech to a deeper death growl. While her growl isn’t perfect it gets the job done, and really can add to the brutality of some of the breakdowns.
The short sides of this album is the juvenal songwriting that happens from time to time, mostly in short bursts. While they maybe a talented band, many times in this Ep I was left wondering why they chose to put random clips in their songs. One major instance is
Alaskan Flounder Basket where it starts off with a clip that has a girl saying “I am going to piss on your face, and fart on your mouth”. To me, this just seems a bit too juvenile, while they may not take the music seriously at times, this really kind of crossed the line in the moronic territory. Their other down fall would be their inconsistent transitions that sometimes work and other times just seem extremely choppy. For instance, the song
Still Jolly After All These Years could have ended twenty seconds shorter without throwing odd clown music in their to fill the time.
Reviewing a bands first studio release is really a tough thing to do, because you know that there are going to be a bunch of mistakes that seem very obvious to fix. The real question is are they going to build upon these mistakes or continue to be a gimmick band that likes to throw in random inspector gadget breakdowns or Mario Bros. sounds in the middle of their album. With how much talent they showcased in this album, its certainly a good album to look into, even with their downfall its still a fun listen for 10 or 15 spins through.
