Packaging wise, this looks pretty good. Easy to read lyrics, plenty of photos, I think it works well. The cover has a pretty cool look that fits the band appropriately.
One of my CD players will only give me the message "Bad Disc" when I put this in. The machines are getting smarter.
Seriously...Downset is one of these hip hop-metal bands. It's got a heavy groove, the singer raps, yells, even does a bit of singing though he never really growls. Some may have a problem with the singer...he's raw and he's definitely got flaws but I feel it gives him character. The production on this album overall isn't that great...the drums sound a bit tinny and the whole thing just has a rough edge to it that I don't think really works. This is a hard band to capture, so I'm not sure if polishing it up would help or hurt, but sonically I feel it has some problems.
This style of music has its fans and its haters. No matter how good a band is, if you hate this style you will not be converted. I hate rap-metal, but Stuck Mojo were fucking awesome no matter how much I disagree with their politics. Perhaps it was because the singer was an actual rapper? Regardless, I may be a stubborn ass but I can be open minded.
There last few albums were okay, but the band has some problems. Mainly they write a couple good tracks and then flesh it all out to make an album. There are some bands that should just stick to singles...this band would still be relevant (or as relevant as they were) if instead of waiting four years to put out a mediocre album, they put out a good single every few months.
So the problem is that there are too many mid-paced, generic sounding songs. This really isn't a bad disc as there are some gems...I like "Forever" and "What They Want" among others.
The songs can be repetitive (a problem this band has had before) and just altogether not very exciting for someone that's not a big fan of this style. I dislike the style but I have a soft spot for the band. If this was a new band I'd say they need to refine and they could put out some great stuff...but unfortunately, they've been around for a while and I have a feeling they're just slowly going downhill.
This is certainly no "Load" (great band, worthless album) nor is it even a "Diabolous In Musica" (great band, mostly bad but with some highlights) but it's definitely on par with say, "Cryptic Writings" (not great, the high points aren't high and the low points aren't all that low). The bad songs aren't really "bad" but they're just not strong, but there's no "Forever" which I could listen to ten times in a row...I just hope that the next Downset is better than "Risk."
