Before we get into today’s review, a quick word of love for the recently departed Dolly Parton. I’ve been a Dolly fan since I measured my years in single digits. I even had a poster of her on my wall growing up.
I have always loved her music, but as years went by I also came to love the person. In addition to being one of country music’s greatest singer-songwriters, Dolly was the personification of grace, acceptance and love. The world will be a colder place in her absence, but I like to think that somewhere out there at some metaphysical version of “Two Doors Down” she’s ‘laughin’ and drinkin’ and havin’ a party.’
Heaven should be so lucky.
Disc 1952 is…Crux
Artist: Moon Tooth
Year of Release: 2019
What’s up with the Cover? It looks like a collapsed temple of some kind, although it has fallen apart in a remarkably symmetrical manner. I ascribe this to the power of the glowing rune etched on that big stone altar.
How I Came To Know It: The usual way – I read a review and decided to check it out. I recall the reviews others did for this record were fairly effusive in their praise. Mine will be less so.
How It Stacks Up: Moon Tooth have at least three studio albums that I know of, but I only have this one, so it can’t stack up.
Ratings: 2 stars
Something can be good and just not good for you. Therein lies the mystery that is Moon Tooth’s “Crux” and the lowly two stars you see assigned above. Could this band be better than two stars? Quite possibly yes, but not for me.
For those of you not familiar with Moon Tooth, they are a progressive metal band with a sound somewhere halfway between late-era Soundgarden and late-era Rush. That’s some solid parentage from a genre perspective, and given the many kind words I’ve expressed for both those bands, you’d expect some of that love to rub off.
Some does. Starting most notably with the drumming of Ray Marte, which for me is hands-down the best part of this record. Marte is a true technician in the Neil Peart style. While he isn’t the godlike talent that Peart is, he is damned fine at his craft, dealing out complicated rhythms that account for the lion’s share of the record’s frenetic energy.
Vocalist John Carbone edges more toward the deep thrum of Chris Cornell rather than the high-pitched peal of Geddy Lee. Like Peart on the drums, any comparison with Chris Cornell on vocals is bound to come up short, and Carbone is no exception. He has good tone, and great phrasing, but he isn’t going to blow any doors off. It’s solid, but not a star on its own.
The songs are proggy, so if you want some simple thumpers in 4/4 time you are going to be disappointed. This stuff jumps around rather unpredictably. Despite all the complexity the songs are surprisingly catchy, which is always the baseline for progressive rock. At the end of the day, it has to be listenable, and “Crux” is all of that.
But despite the thoughtful composition and the solid musicianship (the guitar and bass are also first-rate), I found it all a bit boring and emotionally unengaging. Worse, it tends to have a self-consciousness that makes the songs feel overblown. In this way it had me thinking of Them Crooked Vultures (reviewed way back at Disc 750) who are similarly technically gifted but left me empty. “Crux” has a better separation of sound than TCV, but it wasn’t enough to make up for something that felt more clever than heartfelt.
Is part of the problem that my range of interest in progressive metal a bit narrow? Undoubtedly, yes. This record is well constructed, well played and worth the price of admission for Marte’s drumming alone. If you are a big fan of progressive rock or metal, you should definitely check these guys out.
But at the end of the day I did not feel the feels, which for me is a dealbreaker. The songs have plenty of dynamic range, but I couldn’t really separate one from the other, and it felt like a series of well thought out musical experiments, as likely to have me staring quizzically as drawing me into a fist-pumping moment of triumph.
So I shall bid Moon Tooth a fond farewell; a puzzle I either couldn’t solve or that didn’t inspire me to try very hard, depending on how you want to see it.
Best tracks: Musketeers, Rhythm and Roar
No comments:
Post a Comment