60 second album review-CRY MORTAL
Current mood:
working
Category: Music
Yeah, right. Like I can do ANYTHING that quickly. OK, well there is that ONE thing, but my wife assures me that it happens to all guys. All joking aside, I felt like banging the drum for a local band.
Cry Mortal's "think" is my new all-time favorite album of the week. For those of you who may or may not know, I occasionally dust my mixing fingers off for bands I like, or at least ones that are willing to pay me lotsa money. Cry Mortal is one of the former. I have regretfully only mixed these guys one time, but I was hooked from that point on. What got me initially was the slightly offbeat email demeanor of Will Jaeger, the band's drummer. He has a rather dry wit about him, and just like my martinis, I appreciate my humor dry, thank you very much. Once that first gig at The Bar was over after an extended late-night set, there was no turning back.
I flat out DIG these guys' music. Live, they are a thrill to watch and listen to, so I was quite happy when I found out they were almost finished producing their full length release "think". That was way back in mid-summer of 2006. I got my copy of the disc last Friday, in early February. Worth the wait, lemme tell ya. The album is a VERY adequate reproduction of the live experience, minus a lot of sweat and some technical issues that seem to plague Kenny Phillips' bass rig quite often. And beer, but you can certainly crack open a cold one and listen to this disc.
The album is one of the most consistent I have listened to in a very long time. The songs stand out from each other as individuals, but all have a very common something that makes them similar. For instance, the guitar tone rarely changes from start to finish. This is not a problem or even an annoyance to me, though, as the songs can change gears with lightning-fast speed, so it's nice to have that common thread holding everything together. That's sort of a hallmark of Progressive Rock, of which I am a big fan, and is one reason I consider Cry Mortal to be among the leaders of the "Neo-Prog" wave I'm trying to foster. I may have just invented yet another sub-genre of music…
Carroll Trull's vocal stylings are at times acute, but are always melodic enough to stay in check with the overall song. It's quite obvious that he's got a great voice, and knows how to use it judiciously. For you metal-head purists out there, the screams are there, but you've got to listen for them. It's refreshing to not hear Cookie Monster deep throat the mic for 65 minutes. Lyrics are spouted in a sometimes staccato fashion, and other times they just roll off Carroll's tongue, but they are never forced. The backups from Kenny and Will add a tremendous depth to the vocals overall.
As a trio, it's always a chore to fill out a sound the same way a 4 or 5 piece group can. This is where Kenny's bass lines fill the bill. In fact, my biggest complaint about the whole album is that I can't hear the bass lines clearly enough. However, I haven't evaluated this disc on anything more than my truck stereo, and my PC at work, and I'm admittedly biased towards bass, as it is the instrument I play the most. Kenny's tones are at times warm and mellow, and then growling as the song changes demand, and his fretwork is phenomenal as evidenced on track 9, "This Foot Did Slip". Never, though, is it pretentious or over-the-top.
Carroll's guitar is front-and-center throughout the whole album. As with the bass, though, it's never too flashy, or show-offey (yes, I know that isn't a real word). The whole band is extremely talented, and the songs are, in typical progressive fashion, very technical. I wouldn't say there as detailed as Emerson Lake & Palmer, Dream Theater, or Rush, but the songs can certainly hold their own here. Having seen these guys live, and witnessed the tendons and muscles in Carroll's & Kenny's arms tighten up by mid-set, I can certainly say as a musician that these are by no means three chord chumps. These guys are tighter than a virgin on prom night, which directly lends itself to their full sound.
Will knows when to play a killer fill, and when to hold back to just keep the rhythm alive with Kenny. With all the hairpin turns in the songs, he goes from death metal-esque hi-hat/snare gallops to a swing beat effortlessly, and never misses on any of the odd (as in not-so-common) time signatures that predominate the sonic landscape of this album.
I have noticed that the band mentions "The Dark Tower" from time to time on their website and MySpace. I don't read Stephen King so I'm not sure what it's all about, or if it even relates to the lyrics in any way. Apologies in advance to whomever wrote the lyrics, as I really didn't pay any attention to them. One day I'll sit down to analyze and critique them, but that's another blog for another year.
All in all, this is an excellent CD. The recording is high quality, which is a breath of fresh air after getting all the "homebrew" demos that I sort through on a regular basis. With technology advancing the way it has, everyone can record a good sounding disc for very little money, but there's something to be said for a professional helping the process. Sonically, this is about as good as you're gonna get without spending Metallica money and 9 months and three therapists in a studio. Whatever Cry Mortal spent on production and pressing of this album was worth it.
So long story short, check out NOLA's own Cry Mortal. Tell 'em I sent ya. Feb 23rd they'll be at the House of Blues Parish Room along with another favorite local band of mine, Runoft (who take technicality to a new level themselves), and a band I haven't seen in over 2 years, People on the Side. If you look very hard, you just may even find me in the crowd.
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