This is the kind of album that’s hard to review… well because it’s so awesome, i know, i know, so instead of going on a rant fest and just saying good things about everything, i’ll just give a quick and dirty review, i’ll try and talk about the things i like the most and a bit of the background.

Well Fredrik Thordendal’s Special Defects is basically a solo project of … well … Frederik Thordendal, the lead guitarist from the best band in the world… Meshuggah (well at least i think so, muahahah) and one of the best in the world in my opinion… ohhh well gotta stop with the ranting, so the Sol Niger Within crew is: Thordendal on the guitars (and pretty much everything else…), then Meshuggah buddy drummer Tomas Haake on vocals …. yeah vocals hehehe oh and Marcus Persson as well with some vocals, Morgen Agren on the drums (from the progressive rock band Kaipa), Jerry Ericsson on bass, Mats Oberg on keyboards and Jonas Knutsson on the saxophone.

This solo project was completed, pretty much after Meshuggah’s - Destroy Erase Improve, so in a lot of ways it borrows from it, so you got the polyrhythmic calc metal, with all the niceties, the difference is that instead of being greeted with a standard Meshuggah tracks we are given a more experimental trip that combines those features with complex jazz elements and eerie atmospheric sections… its difficult to explain, well let’s just say it, that if this was a Meshuggah album i would say it has 5 Meshuggah tracks and 8 strange interludes, strange but not bad, it kinda all works together, it’s catchy and combines well the rawness of metal with some weird softening undertones.

Well it’s not all flowers and happy bunnies, all this stuff sure does bring a strange pace to the album, and sometimes it feels it’s just played out too long, but i think it works pretty well, its one of those albums you have to listen to it to believe it. Also note that there are at least 2 distinct versions, the original 1997 one and a 1999 remix with better audio and extra tracks, the album has 26 tracks (some a couple of seconds long…) but it works pretty much like one big track, anyway it’s supposed to be one big song and you should listen to it like so, so both versions are pretty much the same, also the mp3’s here, the first is basically the first 2 tracks, “The Beginning of the End of Extraction (Evolutional Slow Down)” and “The Executive Furies of the Robot Lord of Death” (yeah funny track names), both together are about 3min long, and the second is one of the extra tracks from the 1999 version.

Yeah i know it’s weird, strange and somewhat kinky and of course the taste for Meshuggah does enhance the experience… but what can i say i like it ^_^.oO( NO, i love it )

Somewhat Official Site? Myspace Fredrik Thordendal’s Special Defects

Fredrik Thordendal Special Defects - Sol Niger Within First 2 Tracks
Fredrik Thordendal Special Defects - Missing Time

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I must confess… I’m a big Decapitated fan since “Winds of Creation”. Though this album presented great technique and skills, the Vader influences were clear. They did an excellent job anyway. Great strong songs.

With “Nihility” they sharpened their sound, and lifted the bar even more - technique wise. And this was one of the motives for me to get into Decapitated. Their tech riffs were great!

“The Negation” was next in line. I started to notice, a more simpler, direct “sound”, but, overall, the album was also great.

They now present “Organic Hallucinosis”.
I have been reading a lot of reviews saying that this album is great, it’s another step for death metal, the Meshuggah influences are great, whatever…

Well… let me give you my 2 cents.
The new vocalist is ok, I guess, but seems not to fit in the band. Sauron vocals were way more brutal. This guy sings like if he’s in a metalcore band.
The guitar job is up to Decapitated standards in most of the tracks, though some of that tech riffs, are kind of lost. They also recorded some tracks using a 7-string guitar but, for some strange reason, those tracks are not that heavy like they “should” be. I mean… What’s the point of using a 7-stringer if your other 6-string guitar riffs sound way more heavy? I personally expected more of Vogg in that 7-stringer exploring.
The drum job his greater then ever and I think that’s the best we can take from this album.
As for the external influences – Meshuggah and whatever – I never understood why bands struggle to create an original sound, achieved it, and then start copying other bands instead of exploring their achievements.

Decapitated are different and I’m not saying that’s a bad thing. Its better to change than record 4 times the same album. They are just going into a different path, with some elements I don’t enjoy much. If Decapitated fans will follow that path or not, we will see. I’m not sure if I will.

Decapitated - A Poem About An Old Prison Man

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What can i say about Behemoth, one of the finest metal bands in the world, blá blá blá, whatever, you want demonic voices, pounding wall of sound metal, hard as hell, fucking extreme, then they are your guys, from the first song “Sculpting The Throne Ov Seth” you get the clearest of pictures, it just gets better and better, with emphasis on the single “Conquer All” as well as “The Nephilim Rising” with the clean guitars and excellent arrangement as well as “Towards Babylon” and the second single “Slaves Shall Serve”, finishing with a 8 minute pure death metal blaze of glory, what can i say, Behemoth rocks.

Well now for the not so good parts, even though this is fucking A Death Metal, their distorted vocal do tend to become boring…well after the initial shock heheeh, also some songs tend to look and sound alike, all that distorted guitars with those distorted vocals…

Overall this is a must have, i give it full ratings, buy it or die in the gutter, now go fucking listen to Conquer All.

Behemoth - Conquer All

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