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C-187 - Collision review



Reviewer:
8.0

6 users:
6.67
Band: C-187
Album: Collision
Style: Death metal
Release date: August 31, 2007
A review by: Marcel Hubregtse


01. Collision
02. Cruisin' For A Bruisin'
03. Roadblock (D.O.A.)
04. Drugged And Mugged
05. Stalker
06. Murda
07. Homicide
08. P.C.P. (Murda In Ma Head)
09. Rip Deal
10. Sidewalk Chalk
11. Knee Deep In
12. Life Is Dead
13. Strapped With Heat
14. New Territory

Warning! Anyone expecting death metal, when looking at the line-up, will be disappointed.

This project by Patrick Mameli will once again split metal land in two quicker than Moses did the Red Sea. Mameli has never been a musician to play it safe and let his ears hang to what people around him want. A true individual who always goes his own way. And that is something that has to be admired in this day and age of artists adhering to the public's every wish.
Rumours abounded at first that C-187 would bring gangster rap. Gangster rap it certainly is not although lyrically the songs do touch upon gangster rap subject matter at times as does the spelling of a song title such as Murda and P.C.P. (Murda In Ma Head). For those uninitiated in tv series such as Cops (where Mameli drew his inspiration from for this project) C-187 is a legal term denoting murder in the first degree.
So what we get musically is an amalgamate of metal, jazz, fusion, rap, rock with the shouted vocals of Tony Jelencovich over it, his vocals at times do border on rap, but they just touch upon it without really going the whole nine yards. Though the vocals fit the music perfectly they are an acquired taste. For me personally they take away from the enjoyment of the music as a whole.
Songs such as Murda, P.C.P. (Murda In Ma Head), Sidewalk Chalk, Knee Deep In and Rip Deal (is that a bit of The Prodigy I hear there at the beginning of the song?) groove like one hell of a mother and nestle themselves in your head from the word go. Though all the music has an unmistakable groove and might seem shallow at first listen, upon subsequent listens the intricacies unfold themselves and one is left with pure musicianship with an unrivalled rhythm section, consisting of none other than Tony Choy (Cynic, Death, Atheist) and Sean Reinert (Cynic, Death, Gordian Knot, Aeon Spoke) asking your attention while at the same time Mameli's jazzy fusion-like solos also scream for attention, but then those darned vocals kick in again. But don't let those hold you back from enjoying a masterly made album which will have the metal community discussing it for a long time to come. I can already imagine the people complaining that everything has to go back to its roots again and that metal isn't waiting for something like this cause this is too modern and takes it all too far. Well, tough shit for them, it's artists such as Mameli with their visions of metal that keep metal interesting and see to it that metal doesn't die due to stagnation.

Stagnation = death, experimentation = life.

Although I find myself at a total loss with the vocals, the overall impression here is such that they won't keep me from listening to Collision over and over again.
Mameli did it again. Welcome back, Patrick!

Stand-out tracks: Sidewalk Chalk (damn that riff, I can't get it out of my head), Collision, Stalker, Knee Deep In. Drugged And Mugged.

Written by Marcel Hubregtse | 29.08.2007




Comments

Comments: 15   Visited by: 65 users
29.08.2007 - 21:17
ylside
Staff
5/10 I would rate this album. Vocals were very disappointing for me. Some VERY interesting guitar riff ideas here and there that got ruined by vox. The demo songs on the Pestilence fan site are quite better haha.

Welcome back Patrick, yes.

Now waiting for what Hail of Bullets will be like!
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29.08.2007 - 22:53
Lucas
Mr. Noise
Elite
Weird music, that's for sure. Not my kind of taste, as well. I enjoyed some parts though.
----
SLUDGE. DOOM. DEATH. Wait, what?

"The reason I'm running for president is because I can't be Bruce Springsteen." - Barack Obama
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30.08.2007 - 01:28
Rupert
I like your way of thinking:
"Stagnation = death, experimentation = life."
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30.08.2007 - 12:27
Deadsoulman
Elite
I must be the only one here who enjoys the vocals much more than the rest of the music. I don't find anything especially appealing in this album. It has a couple of great songs (I like the opener Collision and Knee Deep In) but the rest is only slightly above (and too often under) average IMO. The musicianship is great but the songs are not. Too bad, I expected a great album, whatever the style they chose to play.
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30.08.2007 - 17:47
Darkside Momo
Retired
Elite
No surprise that you wrote this review, Marcel !!

"I can already imagine the people complaining that everything has to go back to its roots again and that metal isn't waiting for something like this cause this is too modern and takes it all too far. Well, tough shit for them, it's artists such as Mameli with their visions of metal that keep metal interesting and see to it that metal doesn't die due to stagnation."
Of course I agree with that !

First impressions right now : rythmics are just awesome (who expected less after all), soli impressive, and if the voice might effectively be an acquired taste, it doesn't bother me that much. In fact it fits quite well with the mood, way better than a death grunter would have anyway.
----
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I'm stealing back my soul
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02.09.2007 - 12:29
GT
Coffee!!
Staff
I really find the vocals great...and the music as well. I could see myself buying this album
----


Dreams are made so we don't get bored when we sleep
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18.09.2007 - 17:02
Lucas
Mr. Noise
Elite
Written by Lucas on 29.08.2007 at 22:53

Weird music, that's for sure. Not my kind of taste, as well. I enjoyed some parts though.

Gotten used to the vocals a bit now and I like it better. Let's see how much further this grows.
----
SLUDGE. DOOM. DEATH. Wait, what?

"The reason I'm running for president is because I can't be Bruce Springsteen." - Barack Obama
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20.09.2007 - 17:37
graywolf87
Account deleted
this is the worst...why 3 musicians who created such beautiful sounds back then, ("specially sean reinert , that hurts the most") cynic, pestilence, atheist the big 3 jazz-fusion technical death metal and 3 among my all time favorite bands would get together to form such unexplainable...something music stead of creating the supreme jazz fusion band for the pleasure of our ears??? wtf happened there??? I know in a way its patrik mameli's fault have you seen him in pics??? he looks and acts completely rapper-like.
nothing against the vocal, I used to like mnemic back in high school but the guy belongs to another band...he has a desperate voice that ruins even sean reinert's drum...and that's fucking loud!
...what I think of this is money and popularity, maybe the guys missed that adrenaline of being big and want to hit the younger audience by playing pop-metal music such as the likes of slipknot and shadows fall to name some for example...that's where the money goes these days, its no longer death metal my friends and even less would go for jazz influenced bands.
...this really hurts...
...a 6/10...no no, maybe a 5/10 for not singing about bling, guns and bitches.
...this really hurts...
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20.09.2007 - 20:51
Marcel Hubregtse
Grumpy Old Fuck
Elite
Written by [user id=22132] on 20.09.2007 at 17:37

this is the worst...why 3 musicians who created such beautiful sounds back then, ("specially sean reinert , that hurts the most") cynic, pestilence, atheist the big 3 jazz-fusion technical death metal and 3 among my all time favorite bands would get together to form such unexplainable...something music stead of creating the supreme jazz fusion band for the pleasure of our ears??? wtf happened there??? I know in a way its patrik mameli's fault have you seen him in pics??? he looks and acts completely rapper-like.
nothing against the vocal, I used to like mnemic back in high school but the guy belongs to another band...he has a desperate voice that ruins even sean reinert's drum...and that's fucking loud!
...what I think of this is money and popularity, maybe the guys missed that adrenaline of being big and want to hit the younger audience by playing pop-metal music such as the likes of slipknot and shadows fall to name some for example...that's where the money goes these days, its no longer death metal my friends and even less would go for jazz influenced bands.
...this really hurts...
...a 6/10...no no, maybe a 5/10 for not singing about bling, guns and bitches.
...this really hurts...

Okay so you don't like the album, so who cares? Not Mameli and the rest of the band I am sure. But selling out? Hahahaha then you don't understand the concept of selling out. Btw, since when is dressing like your average person dressing like a rapper? Patrick acting like a rapper? Hahahaha, he just acts as he pleases. Your reaction is like that of a typical death metal fanboy who just can't handle change. No problem there, but at least to it and acknowledge that the sort of music they bring as C-187 is proficiently played interesting music, though not to your liking.
----
Member of the true crusade against European Flower Metal

Yesterday is dead and gone, tomorrow is out of sight
Dawn Crosby (r.i.p.)
05.04.1963 - 15.12.1996

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20.09.2007 - 21:36
BitterCOld
The Ancient One
Admin
weren't cynic and atheist seen with confused looks and raised eyebrows back in the day for incorporating the level of musical complexity and vision into death metal?

by atheist's own accounts (interviews, liner notes in remastered works), they were.

to a wide section of the DM audience at the time, they weren't viewed as cool THEN. at least not by the entire DM audience.

now they are viewed as legends whose unique works were vital to the music.

what a difference some age, wisdom, and hindsight make.

years from now, C-187 might be looked back upon in a completely different light than stagnant metal fans view it now.

just my two cents.
----
get the fuck off my lawn.

Beer Bug Virus Spotify Playlist crafted by Nikarg and I. Feel free to tune in and add some pertinent metal tunes!
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20.09.2007 - 21:43
Marcel Hubregtse
Grumpy Old Fuck
Elite
Written by BitterCOld on 20.09.2007 at 21:36

weren't cynic and atheist seen with confused looks and raised eyebrows back in the day for incorporating the level of musical complexity and vision into death metal?

by atheist's own accounts (interviews, liner notes in remastered works), they were.

to a wide section of the DM audience at the time, they weren't viewed as cool THEN. at least not by the entire DM audience.

now they are viewed as legends whose unique works were vital to the music.

what a difference some age, wisdom, and hindsight make.

years from now, C-187 might be looked back upon in a completely different light than stagnant metal fans view it now.

just my two cents.

Yes, Atheist, Cynic & especially Spheres by Pestilence were frowned upon immensely back in the day by the DM populace and most metal fans. The close mindedness of the DM fans was one of the reasons for Patrick Mameli to call it quits if I remember correctly.
----
Member of the true crusade against European Flower Metal

Yesterday is dead and gone, tomorrow is out of sight
Dawn Crosby (r.i.p.)
05.04.1963 - 15.12.1996

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21.09.2007 - 04:33
graywolf87
Account deleted
Written by [user id=3005] on 20.09.2007 at 20:38

Written by [user id=22132] on 20.09.2007 at 17:37

this is the worst...why 3 musicians who created such beautiful sounds back then, ("specially sean reinert , that hurts the most") cynic, pestilence, atheist the big 3 jazz-fusion technical death metal and 3 among my all time favorite bands would get together to form such unexplainable...something music stead of creating the supreme jazz fusion band for the pleasure of our ears??? wtf happened there??? I know in a way its patrik mameli's fault have you seen him in pics??? he looks and acts completely rapper-like.
nothing against the vocal, I used to like mnemic back in high school but the guy belongs to another band...he has a desperate voice that ruins even sean reinert's drum...and that's fucking loud!
...what I think of this is money and popularity, maybe the guys missed that adrenaline of being big and want to hit the younger audience by playing pop-metal music such as the likes of slipknot and shadows fall to name some for example...that's where the money goes these days, its no longer death metal my friends and even less would go for jazz influenced bands.
...this really hurts...
...a 6/10...no no, maybe a 5/10 for not singing about bling, guns and bitches.
...this really hurts...

Have you ever heard that people might have different tastes, and yours isn't supreme. Ofcourse its convenient for you to call them sell-outs if you don't like them. What the hell has someone's appearance to do with the music; nothing nothing, at all. There is nothing wrong with mixing metal with rap or with any other "unpopular genre" ? New sounds( btw. the comparison with Slipknot and Shadows Fall is absolutely absurd) is exactly what the scene needs, stagnation = death.

If you don't like a piece of music please just say so, it is not necessary to call anyone a sell-out because of that.

I apologise if this post is too offensive.

no needs to apologize next time I'll express myself better in a more peaceful way...its just that the whole matter just disturbs me...I remember limbizkit (taking them as an example) doing the same thing to metal and altering it into nu-rapmetal also linkinpark etc etc...I don't deny I used to listen to this stuff back when i was 13-14. But why not preserve their roots as jazz influenced bands since that era didn't last that long...I understand there are some nice moments in their music but why create songs like P.C.P, Roadblock, etc...even some of the names sound rap-like. im a big cynic fan i heard of C-187 just when they reunited, I was expecting something different that's why I bitch so much...well forget it my opinion don't count here, don't take me as a death metal fan boy I am a very open minded guy when it comes to music...let's say this is just not my music but musicians that I admire and disappointed me with this project in a way.

good thing cynic reunited...maybe jazz-fusion death might flourish once again...I look forward for the day their spiritualistic/cleansing music arrives.

This for me is shit! (except some few parts)...that's how I feel...sorry to disappoint.
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21.09.2007 - 05:39
Markku
Account deleted
Metal and rap have been allready mixed very successfully before(Mordred), almost two decades ago by now; the problem is that there have been many bands that have tried to do the same, with much less success(musically) and have given the subgenre a bad reputation.
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25.07.2009 - 12:07
RockeRoy
This is a good and original album i think and i i don't mind the vocal either, very good review to:)
----
You found god? If nobody claims him in thirty days, he's yours

Walk with me in hell
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10.12.2011 - 10:01
Grody2themax
This album is really good, not surprising though considering the members. On everything except the vocals I'm drawn to it in a way because of it's originality, but the vocals and gangster vibe ruin absolutely everything for me. This album sounds like Limp Bizkit in an alternate universe that is slightly more death metal sounding and actually good.
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