The Healing Process

In a rather sardonic (and probably once-in-a-lifetime) moment of good humor, decided to name their second album -- when, in fact, it's anything but. No, these nine examples of technical constitute an inexorable assault on the senses guaranteed to leave the listener bruised and bloodied -- if generally satisfyingly so. The similarly demanding work of mavens and Swedish experts (though not quite - freaks like ) come immediately to mind when listening to labyrinthine tracks like and their severely dissonant, nearly atonal riffs only sporadically making room for anything approaching melody. And when these moments do arrive, it's often in the shape of piercing harmonics ( ) or rapidly spiraling flurries of notes ( ) -- the only exception being third track which features a short, truly musical passage easily representing the album's greatest anomaly. do have a knack for keeping things interesting, however, constantly altering tempos throughout (with special kudos going to highlights and the cleverly titled ) and coming up with quite a few, very groovy riffs (hear a particularly good set in ), which add some much needed soul to the predominantly mechanical sounds on display here. Actually, that last bit may prove a cautionary point for fans of more, shall we say, "rough and rustic" , since all of this clinical precision does sort of detract from the music's spontaneous sense of brutality. And since the band's use of not one but two vocalists (one gurgling, the other barking) fails to transition in any discernible form from their concerts on to tape, obviously still have a few improvements to address with their next effort. ~ Eduardo Rivadavia