The Demo Review:
Band Name: Fearingmind
Demo Title: Psychotic Episode
Band Members: Ed "Dr. Sixstring" Nesbit - guitar; Dave "Widdlie-Widdlie" Nott - guitar; Randy "Bam Bam" Kaleo - drums; Ron "Fezz McGinnis - bass and vocals
Location: Gettysburg, PA

Rating: 3 Skulls

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    • Goatwhore's Review:
    I often wonder how some local rock and metal bands come up with their names. It's almost as though they randomly combine any two or three words in the midst of drinking cheap beer and jamming in front of a handful of diehard groupies. If you're from Gettysburg, PA (insert witty Civil War metaphor or reference here), perhaps you could explain to me what Fearingmind means.

    At any rate, I'm sad to say that the pointlessness of the band's name reflects the value of much of its musical output. Now I'm not going to be ugly for the sake of it, and I must say the band's dedication to metal as reflected via their demo's liner notes and their website (just check out the memorial photos of dedication to metal heroes who are no longer with us) is admirable, but I wouldn't be doing my job as a critic if I wasn't speaking the truth. And I firmly believe - allow me to correct that - I know that whether I'm hearing the next Zeppelin, the next group of meth-addicts forming an incoherent and incompetent deathgrind band or something in between, it's a critic's job to speak the truth.

    As far as the pieces of the puzzle here, the rhythm section is simple but effective in support of some impressive fretwork that gleams a head and shoulders above the majority of the post-grunge and post-nu-metal buffoons clamoring around your respective local bars. In other words, the talent that the guitarists and bassist posses isn't performed for the sake of showing off. The music is composed in the pursuit of...well, tailoring well-composed music for the song's sake.

    The lead guitar lines and the song structures are heavily traditional metal influenced and eighties thrash influenced. There's also an inclination for progressive metal, and as already mentioned, it's offered in only healthy, small portions - suited adequately to the body of the song in its entirety and to the specific section of the song. The band successfully allows for these key components to mesh together in a style that's relatively unique for a band at the demo stage.

    Now, regarding the vocalist, do you want the good news or the bad news? Both? Alright, then. Starting with the drawback, this vocalist should never attempt to sing melodically again. Who ever told this guy that he had something special going on in that department, well, THEY LIED!

    As far as the vocalist's strength, he has an undeniably metal-sounding set of pipes that comes across as a mix between Kirk from Crowbar and Tom G. Warrior from the mighty, mighty Hellhammer and Celtic Frost.

    What have we in terms of production? I hate to ride the fence again, but it's kind of good and kind of bad. There is quality in that every instrument's sound is captured and mixed proportionally within the overall product, yet it's far too sterile for the natural flow of the compositions and overall style that includes peaks, valleys and tempo buildups.

    Since this release, the band is looking for a new vocalist, they have a new drummer, and they will be dropping a full-length album this year. So I hope that what I have mentioned has merely been a starting point from which the band has since developed. There is potential here that I do hope has or will be realized.
    3 out of 5

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