Philip H. Anselmo & The Illegals - Choosing Mental Illness As A Virtue - guest review
Philip H. Anselmo & The Illegals - Choosing Mental Illness As A Virtue - guest review
Style
Sludge metal Release date
January 26, 2018 Tracklist
01. Little Fucking Heroes02. Utopian
03. Choosing Mental Illness
04. The Ignorant Point
05. Individual
06. Delinquent
07. Photographic Taunts
08. Finger Me
09. Invalid Colubrine Frauds
10. Mixed Lunatic Results
Guest review by
musclassia May 18, 2018
Right off the bat, the band announces that they haven't cheered up in the past few years, with "Little Fucking Heroes," a juggernaut of grinding, putrid sludge. There is still the same issue regarding a lack of natural flow to the song, but perhaps to a lesser degree. Anselmo announces himself instantly with arguably a huskier, grimmer vocal approach than has been used in the past, along with some really bilious gargled screams. The overall sound incorporates all the nastiest forms of metal, with elements of grindcore and death metal fitting in amongst the grimy sludge. I would say the most effective moments come when they focus on the latter, slowing things down with some really murky, swampy riffs. When the speed ratchets up, giving way to buzzsaw-esque riffs ("Choosing Mental Illness") and chaotic blast beat patterns on the drums ("The Ignorant Point"), the flow can really begin to get lost.
So, has the band improved on last time? Perhaps to some degree. I would say the songs here are definitely more listenable than those I remember from Walk Through Exits Only, but that's not a difficult bar to reach. Compared to the sludge metal scene at large, there's very few that can match the intensity and aggression of this album, but many that can deliver a similar punch without sacrificing structure to this degree. It ultimately depends what you're looking for - if you can find your own rhythm with these songs, this misanthropic cacophony of extreme metal and hardcore can probably energise like few other artists can. However, the paucity of memorable hooks (mostly as a result of the complete lack of songwriting focus) means that for the most part, the music is almost impossible to engage with.
If you fancy giving it a try, "Individual" is one of the more cohesive and hook-filled songs here, and as a result the most enjoyable.
Rating breakdown
| Performance: | 6 |
| Songwriting: | 4 |
| Originality: | 7 |
| Production: | 5 |
Written by musclassia | May 18, 2018
Guest review disclaimer:
This is a guest review, which means it does not necessarily represent the point of view of the MS Staff.
This is a guest review, which means it does not necessarily represent the point of view of the MS Staff.
Comments
Comments:
4
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 Posts: 9624 |
Posts: 9624
So glad you're back on the review train! It would be great if you linked your reviews to the albums in that list of yours
---- Do you think if the heart keeps on shrinking One day there will be no heart at all?
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 Posts: 8651 |
Posts: 8651 Written by RaduP on 26.05.2018 at 18:33 Cheers man, had a burst of putting a few together last month, I'll hopefully find another album or two soon that I fancy having a go at. Don't actually know how to add external links to lists on here, how would I do that?
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| Posts: 9624 |
Posts: 9624 Written by musclassia on 27.05.2018 at 14:02 Just use (url) tags like [url=metalstorm.net/pub/review.php?review_id=14595]REVIEW[/url]
---- Do you think if the heart keeps on shrinking One day there will be no heart at all?
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| Posts: 8651 |
Posts: 8651 Written by RaduP on 27.05.2018 at 17:42 Are you sure there's nothing else that needs to be done? I just copy&pasted what you wrote into the list but changed the URL for one of my reviews instead and it just writes it out without converting it into a link. Also just tried copying in what you wrote there^ exactly and it still doesn't turn into the link :/
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