Artist: Today is the Day
Label: Relapse Records
Release Date: 9/2/02
Rating: 3 Skulls
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Title: Sadness Will Prevail Artist: Today is the Day Label: Relapse Records Release Date: 9/2/02
Rating: 3 Skulls |
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Reviewed by Kefka X (11/1/02):
A few years ago, Today is the Day released an inspiring, groove-filled 20-track saga called In the Eyes of God. The album introduced bassist Bill Kelleher and drummer Brann Dailor into the metal scene, both remarkable musicians. While Temple of the Morning Star put them on the metal map, the preceding album solidified their reputation as a force of stoner/grind metal.Sadness Will Prevail, their new work, retains their reputation and pushes it up a level. Like their previous works, this album does not skimp on the music, this work being TWO disks long. Sadness is even more experimental than their previous works. The second-to-last song on the second disk, "Never Answer the Phone", goes on for over 20 minutes.
While this album seems to use more of theyíre experimental side, the groove and the extremity that was found on In the Eyes of God is somewhat missing.
Two other elements that are missing that were found on the previous album were Bill Kelleher and Brann Dailor. Both are remarkable musicians and have a strong sense for their instruments. Both members are currently in Mastodon, a remarkable new act.
For anyone who is a TITD fan, the new album will definitely suffice and please. For those looking for another album like In the Eyes of God, listen to Mastodon.
Reviewed by Requiem (10/15/02):
What on Earth is going on in the mind of Steve Austin? He always seems to come up with some twisted form of heavy music but even this time he's topped himself. We've got a double CD with over 2 hours of music and sounds that will most likely leave you with the same perplexed face most people seem to get when they give it a first listen. Now don't get me wrong, I'm all for a unique artistic vision, but I'm still indecisive on what I really think of this. After multiple listens, there's so much to take in and evaluate that I feel like I've only tasted a small portion of the pie. Plus the lack of definite song structures throws you for a loop, combining structured segments with moments of electronic wizardry, which may be due to the fact that Mr. Austin, being the producer and all, decided to get weird on us. This is out there. It's really out there. But in a sense it makes you want to dig in deeper, to see if you can unravel the mystery of it all.Half of the album I have no trouble taking seriously, but the other half is comprised of mainly noise segments in some form or other. And it's strange to me that they went in this direction. For a 2 CD set you are essentially getting one CD's worth of valid material. You can look at the bizarre interludes randomly placed in the album as "breathers," to give the album a sense of contrast. I find, however, that they break up the potential power and flow that the heavy tunes contain. The songs that do have structure and worth are mammoths of tunes in terms of heaviness. They've pretty much slowed things down a bit this time, especially in comparison to the spastic In the Eyes of God LP.
This time around, like on "The Descent," it's like a mentally insane version of Neurosis. It's got the crushing guitar work, yet maintains the psychopathic stamp of the Today is the Day sound. "Death Requiem" is a haunting track comprised of piano, bass, drums and vocals and starts out sounding mellow, but ends in utter dissonance and chaos. "The Ivory of Self Hate" sounds like the Peanuts theme song on too many hallucinogens. "Invincible" takes a bow to the mighty Sabbath with its sluggish and sinister feel. Not that Today is the Day has ever been "normal" but even the structured tunes will raise an eyebrow or two. Disc X doesn't go too far off the mark with the experimental noise but disc Y is another story.
Disc Y starts out with an almost Mastodon feel on opening track "Myriad." It's no question that both bands have similarities due to their members' past collaborations. The next three tracks take a sharp turn into acid inspired noise segments, while "Control the Media" briefly brings us back to reality in instrumental form. "Miasma" is an odd track of solely female vocals as if sung in a reverberating room. "Friend" just reminds us that Steve does in fact remember to lay down some vocals from time to time. This tune, like the QOTSA's "Feel Good Hit of the Summer" is a homage to drugs that us rockers are quite familiar with. And I hope you have time on your hands because "I Live to See You Smile" is a whopping 23 minutes long, and it goes through as many mood swings as a schizophrenic on a bad day.
That is a brief synopsis of our 2-hour plus journey into the currently demented minds of Today is the Day. The band's three year hiatus has resulted in a drastically different approach to the mind numbing music that Steve Austin creates. This time with more keyboards, samples, and non-conventional ways of frying your mind, he has again succeeded. And despite my frequent comparisons, Today is the Day has never sounded remotely close to anybody. What they will do with this material live I have yet to find out. I hope they have the integrity to display all of this material in the live setting, but it seems they usually leave their studio tricks at home. I'd like to give it a 4 for just the mind-blowing, bizarre album that it truly is. Since I'm not currently stoned, or on acid, I have to give it a 3 for now. Its just way out there.
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