There’s a common theme when bands like TMO send us a CD for review – it ends up in my pile, I write a review berating the lack of musical talent and half a dozen “critics” too chicken shit to leave their name slag me off for not knowing anything about the genre. Well, get this – I know nothing about the genre! I can’t help it if people send us a CD to review that’s pretty much inappropriate for us to write about. We’ve been around so long now that naivety is not an excuse – neither is slagging us off for not knowing the genre.
So, in my ultimately misguided opinion, The Murder Obsession are fantastic. that is, of course, until the singer opens his mouth and it all goes horribly pear-shaped. The guitar riffs are peeled off with so much talent even I am impressed. The drums and basslines inter-weave delightfully. The breakdowns are punishing. But then there’s a growl. I’d love to call it a scream, but it’s not. And it’s certainly not singing. It’s just someone going “DUHHHHHHHHHHHH” and “GRRRRRRRRRRRR” on repeat for the course of five tracks. And I just don’t “get” it. Is it supposed to be emotional? Is it supposed to mean something?
For me it ruins the beauty the instruments create. And I know I’m missing the point of it (hence the score – which you could possibly disregard entirely anyway), but to me it’s just a noise, devoid of talent, passion or emotion. But then what would I know?
www.myspace.com/themurderobsession
shave the area records
paul