Stendhal Syndrome - Rusty Eye CD

Product Description With Mr Rust now joined by guitarist Baron Murtland and vocalist / drummer Miss Randall, Rusty Eye are at last able to deliver an album which essentially defines them as a band. In a way, if 2009s Possessor is Rusty Eyes Master Of Puppets, then Stendhal Syndrome is their Ride The Lightning - its that important. The albums appeal is wide ranging as the band pull in aspects of 70s rock, punk, prog, doom and thrash. In lesser hands, such a blend could be a real mess, but Rusty Eye weave the various musical strands together like master craftsmen. The duality of the vocals - courtesy of Mr Rust and Miss Randall - add a cinematic / dramatic quality to the songs, which befits tunes like the seminal Mr Cannibal. But just when youve got Rusty Eye sussed, they pull the rug from under your feet - effortlessly seguing from intricate jazz-inspired instrumental passages into razor-sharp riff assaults into head-noddingly appreciable grooves. And that is exactly what makes this album so damn enjoyable! By Calum Harvie Zero Tolerance Magazine (UK) Review There is a strange, enigmatic beauty to this peculiar mishmash of Doom, Thrash, Grind, Death, 70s Rock and Punk styles that simultaneously captivates and eviscerates my ears. A label such as Progressive obviously comes to mind with them, but often this tends to denote a uniform movement of DREAM THEATER and OPETH worshippers so one should take care to note the variance that this particular act has with any established scenes. By their own testimony, RUSTY EYE take pride in avoiding the common practice of pigeon holing oneself into an established clique or dogmatic style, and it shows on every single track on this compact collection of metal concoctions.Naturally for most would be newcomers to the band, drummer/vocalist Miss Randall would tend to be the primary point of interest due to the infrequency of a drummer taking lead vocal duties, let alone the rarity of women drummers/vocalists in the Metal world. She holds her own and proves capable of handling a lot of complex tempo changes, fill-ins, and fast work without sacrificing any level of accuracy in her singing. But one should also remember that there are two other extremely competent musicians in bassist Mr. Rust and axe man Baron Murtland, both of who put forth a unique blend of active stylistic devices that refuse to conform to any singular discipline within the metal umbrella.Now as to the particular character of the band s sound, though they tend to be all over the place, there is a dominant tendency towards the style of several 70s Metal/Stoner Rock bands. The songs tend to vary significantly in time length, but make a point of exploiting the full talents of both the sum and its parts. Off the cuff tempo changes suggest an extremely tight and together trio, while regular break away lead sections with complex bass work would indicate a band that isnt afraid to loosen up and experiment with the individual characters of each instrument. Bands who likely influenced this extremely individualistic approach, but themselves sounded completely different would include RUSH, YES, BLACK SABBATH, DEEP PURPLE, MANILLA ROAD and TROUBLE. One might say that RUSTY EYE have engaged in the ultimate fit of nonconformity by adopting the attitude of the late 70s Punk scene and married it to the Progressive Rock music that the former derided as pretentious and phony.The all encompassing opus Stendhal Syndrome has a little something for everyone. For Speed Metal fanatics with a tolerance for some harsh Death/Grind vocal detailing and some rather unusual sounding Progressive breakdowns, Birds Of Prey delivers a solid helping. A straight up, catchy Heavy Metal fanfare with a peculiar Pop/Punk interlude known a Turn It Up follows after, carrying just a few too many changeups and turnarounds to qualify as overtly accessible. The band next elects to stay close to their progressive roots and delivery a beautiful yet gloomy acoustic instrumental in Fear Of Heaven, which also showcases a fine production job on the part of the band. So called newer metal bands like THE SWORD could take a lesson from Miss Randall and company on how to properly mix an album, particularly the percussion section.However, the band doesnt truly start to shine until we arrive at their two closing numbers, which essentially repackage the original Progressive/Doom Metal format put forth by Sabbath into something that words can t truly do justice to. The closing number and title track takes the free flowing concept behind classic metal jam sessions such as A Bit Of Finger , Megalomania and Wheels Of Confusion and melds it with a series of seemingly random spoken samples and vocal ad lib work. The featured hit of sorts in Mr. Cannibal stands alone as one of the most twisted musical marriages of Traditional Doom with gore infused lyrics. --The Metal ObserverRusty Eye first crawled onto the musical map in 1995, in Mexico City. A three piece influenced heavily by the European metal stylings of bands like Venom, Iron Maiden, Celtic Frost and Motorhead. That is from the first paragraph or so of their two page bio sheet. Stendhal Syndrome is their fourth full length, and I can say at the forefront it is a tighter, more mature Rusty Eye than on their debut, Rust N Roll. Before getting onto the business of actual music review, allow me to babble about some cool things about this band that have nothing to do with their sound. They are cordial and tenacious self promoters. I first received a package with a pic and bio but no listening material, I e-mailed Miss Randall (drums & vox) and within 2 days a FedEx man knocked on my door and handed me an envelope with THREE discs. Their debut and a live one (neither of which I am reviewing other than to say if you purchase and like the new one, back track and snag these as well). Their promotional picture: Miss Randall is hotly sporting a bullet belt and Venom shirt. Nice! One of the other fellows is wearing a Goblin shirt (loads of coolness points there, I tell you; I have yet to meet anyone who know who Goblin is!?!). The last guy is wearing a King Diamond shirt. So they wear their influences on their sleeves, literally. Another few points for naming their cd after a Dario Argento film. Now for the music. It took me repeated listens to decide I liked it. I like Miss Randall s vocals and how they work wth the barely contained cacophony that is going on. It is the sound of controlled chaos, a dark edgy punk energy coming from a very dark place. The men are barking ferociously behind her urgent voice, all being propelled by chinking mechanistic guitar noise and thick bass lines, and an almost jazz like style of drumming. For an odd few moments this reminded me of the very first time I had heard Marilyn Manson, not that these bands sound at all alike but in that I knew I was hearing something very different but something that could find a nice home in a few thousand black adolescent hearts. Stendhal Syndrome begins with the song, Birds Of Prey which starts quite abruptly, and is a ferocious back and forth duel between Miss Randall and Mr. Rust s guttural vocals and awesome guitar lines. Dr. Deth is a very talented man indeed. Turn it Up follows with some cowbell and a chirpy guitar opening segueing into a lovely riffy metal gutter punk tune. The third track is a darkly somber instrumental, that offers as a misleading intro to Mr. Cannibal with its Maiden-style galloping leads taking us to the tongue in cheek lyrics concerning cannibalistic pining (wanting to be eaten). Next is the title track, a slower paced, churning, nearly instrumental piece with samples and odd chanted vocals. Vermin, another vocals free entry is maliciously melodic. Cryonic Suspension is like a sick fist fight between Babes In Toyland and early Megadeth, and the closer Zombie continues the feel of the disc: dark and heavy. While I liked the cd I fear Rusty Eye are most certainly not for everyone and not for every metal fan, they may not be heavy enough for the diehard Euro metal types and too much for the gothic dark rawk fans. Alas, the mutant music lovers like me who walk the genre lines can just embrace them for ourselves. by John Boden --Tartarean DesireAdditional Info: Anyone who ever clocked Alan Merrill's vocals with glam rock geniuses The Arrows back in the mid-1970s, and thought they detected a hint of American R&B lounging around the edges, probably wrote it off as a trick of the light. Certainly, they could never have expected Merrill to follow through (eventually) with this, a 23-song tribute album to Arthur Alexander and Otis Blackwell, recorded with ex-Yankees frontman Jon Tiven, and dropping so neatly into the very heart of the songs that one wonders precisely what else Merrill has tucked away in his quiver.

Specifics

  • Album: Stendhal Syndrome
  • Artist: Rusty Eye
  • Label: CD Baby
  • Genre: Rock
  • MPN: EPOCHÉ 0004
Tracklist

1. Birds Of Prey
2. Turn It Up
3. Fear Of Heaven
4. Mr. Cannibal
5. Stendhal Syndrome
6. Vermin [Bonus]
7. Cryonic Suspension [Bonus]
8. Zombie [Bonus]

(CD-634479361906)

SKU CD-634479361906
Barcode # 634479361906
Brand CD Baby
Shipping Weight 0.0710kg
Shipping Width 0.140m
Shipping Height 0.010m
Shipping Length 0.140m

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