Stuck Between The Parallels of Man & Monster - Son Of Abbot
https://eerecords.bandcamp.com/album...of-man-monster
This is one of the few member albums I've been looking forward to, and I'm excited that it's finally here. Doing a track by track review.
Waste of Space: Really neat way to introduce the album as a whole. Brings together a lot of what Son of Abbot is good at and still manages to throw in the curve ball here and there, but at the end of the day, it works really well. A nice mixture of different sounds that works exceptionally well as an intro track. Well done. 10/10
Words Can't Hurt You: This one starts off really interesting with an echoing "Words Can't Hurt You" mixed with some piano and a one note synth in the back? Really cool and probably one of my favorite tracks you've ever done. Gets super funky after about 30 seconds and continues to be great throughout the rest of the track. Really cool to hear. It keeps a constant beat throughout the track and expands near the end, but it's not too long that it becomes repetitive, it's just the right amount that makes it a solid track. The additional electric guitar in this adds a lot of substance. 9/10
Meaningless Control: This one follows a pattern that I try to incorporate into my Psychephilia project by keeping it minimal and soft for the opening then gradually turn into something, as opposed to throwing everything into your face at once. It allows the song to have some growth and also gives the listener a bit of a break and zones them out a little bit. The added commentary that I can't quite make out works really well here, which once again follows an echoing pattern. I like that a lot, and the inclusion on this album is natural. Much like some other tracks, the guitar comes in later, but god damn its inclusion is really well done. Nothing feels forced in this track. Could easily be one of the top songs on the album. 9/10
What Ever Happened To Alan Smithee: This one starts off much differently than anything I've ever heard you do, with a harmonica, but man I may have to try to use the sound of a harmonica in my music. This guitar chord sounds extremely familiar, but that's not necessarily a bad thing. It works really well in this track as I imagine you're trying to go with something simple but feel fulfilled, and it accomplishes that. I've always really liked this chord that you play because it already opens itself up for some crazy collaborations. Maybe not the greatest track you've ever done in terms of repetitiveness, but it's definitely something you'd make. Again, we do get the additional electric guitar thrown in about 2 minutes in, and it's a welcome addition as the track starts to take form. The deep gritty voice over and the constant drum beat is a nice touch as well. Very experimental, and it paid off. 8/10
Yellow (ft. Don Belanger): The first of I think 3 collab tracks you have on this album, and I've done a track or two with Don (I'm assuming this is Chula) and his work always pays off in the end. He's proved himself time and time again that he can really put forward something special when a large percentage of us make experimental music. This track is ****ing fantastic and it's everything I would hope it would be if you two collab together. It's so mysterious and atmospheric and Chula's addition is certainly welcomed. Nicely done man. Both of you are ****ing fantastic on this track. 10/10
Sugar & Cocaine (ft. SNZZOV*EN): Perhaps it's time to turn my volume down a little bit, but we'll see as the track presses on. I may joke a lot, but I respect Tristan for what he does and he certainly has had a few hit and misses here and there, but so has everyone else at this forum. It starts off easy but you can definitely tell there is a mixture of influence between the two artists as the track sounds a lot different than the rest. It's not terrible at all, actually. This is something I'd love to hear a full album made out of. Just this type of influence between the two guys. Could be interesting, but perhaps it just needs a little bit more to make this track truly pop off. The constant drum beat mixed with the echoing guitar in the background is nice for about a minute or two, but I never really heard the track truly pop off the way I expected it to. Not as noisy as I expected either, which is good and bad. Again, not terrible at all, but going from the collab with Chula and Blank then going to this, I'm left wanting a little bit more. Still, credit where credit is do, the track is still quite good. 7.9/10 (Almost an 8/10, but I felt a 7/10 was far too low)
The Pope Lick Monster: This one sounds pretty cool and adds in some robotic vocals over the top of what I assumed was recorded through a tube. Really cool effect, then gets into some stoner-esque The Sword riffs and some growls thrown in here and there. This track is really cool and once again, really shows what the artist can do while still maintaining some rhythm. I always look forward to your guitar focused tracks because you really are a fantastic guitar player. As evident through this track. I could see this as a bonus track on The Sword's new release, honestly. Or even Mastodon. 9.5/10
Sorrow Filled Masturbation: About 4 tracks to go, and so far, I'm very impressed with this release and it was definitely worth the wait. It seems blank has put everything he has forward to make this album, and it shows. Every track is special in its own way, and provides the listener with something different in each track, but still manages to portray something that everyone can enjoy. This track I guess was released as a single, so perhaps I've heard it before, but I really like it. The added synths is always a nice plus as I favor the type of sound it can make. Certainly a lot of fun to manipulate as well. This track is phenomenal for all the right reasons. It's very post-rocky but still manages to have that trademark Son of Abbot sound attached to it. It gets really atmospheric as time goes on, but god damn I could listen to this track all day. Everything about it is beautiful and it's possible this is my favorite track on the album. Very nice touch, and very much a welcome addition toward the end of the album. 10/10
Why?: The vocals in this are really cool. I'd love to see that style of vocal effect take place in a lot more of your music, because mixed with the stoner influenced guitar riffs, this track really shines all the way through. I can't quite make out what the voice is saying, but it's very Sigur Ros-esque, which I absolutely love. Very nice rhythm throughout and fits in with the rest of the album quite nicely. Not a whole lot more I can say about it, but it's a nice listen. 8/10
Soryu (ft. #####): Now we're onto the track that blank and myself did for this album, and believe me, I feel honored as hell to be able to see my own work on this album, especially when it's as good as it is. This track is a bit noisier than the rest, but that's how I wanted it to be, and luckily blank loved it. I'd be biased if I were to say this is one of my favorites, but as an artist myself, this is one of the better tracks I've ever done, and I'm so happy with the result. Nothing about it is terrible, and I believe fits in nicely with this album, even if it is noisier. I plan to make an album based around this type of thing because I feel it puts together my Psychephilia and ##### projects together. 9/10
Are You There God?: And onto the last track, we have Are You There God? and as the rest of the album has been great, I really don't know how blank is going to wrap it all together for a closing track. It starts off very experimental and purposely choppy, but I imagine that's the necessary effect for this track, which works nicely. It stays constant which also works for a closing track because you don't necessarily want something too overwhelming. As it goes on, it does gradually get louder but not so much that it isn't listenable. In fact, I use this term a lot, but the track sounds bubbly. I absolutely love it and a great way to end this album. 9/10
So, what do I think about Stuck Between The Parallels of Man & Monster? I think it's possibly the best thing Son of Abbot has ever done, and the time he took on it really shows. Every track is fantastic give or take my personal feelings toward them. I don't necessarily have any stand out tracks because every single one has something special and really brings the album together as a whole. I give this album a solid 9.5/10. Very very very nicely done, and worth the wait.
Here's the link if you're interested:
https://eerecords.bandcamp.com/album...of-man-monster