Website: Mabus
The Inside Pulse:
When death metal gets too monotonous and prog metal just isn’t brutal enough, in walks Mabus. Proclaiming heavy jazz influence in their blend of death, Mabus piles on the syncopation and chaotic time changes like it was playing Jingle Bells. Simultaneously, the raw vocals of Shane Brendan Cashman are anything but structured and graceful. For as much musical complexity as Mabus throws into the mix, they’re still as metal as it gets.
Positives: “Care To Drag?” is utterly amazing and shows what sort of talent is buried under all of the insanity. For that’s what a lot of this disc is — pure, unbridled craziness. Opening track “One’s Nosedive Is Another’s Parade” is not only an appropriate introduction but also one of the stronger points where the band tempers their prediliction for odd rhythms with structure.
Negatives: Whoo boy, this album is a mess. Cheers, To Doomsday Gloom is quite ambitious, but often the song gets lost in the details. “Lollygags, My Sweet Crescendo” features a lovely jazzy break, but everything else about it is nearly unlistenable. However, while “No More Tricks, No More Limbs” goes heavy on the jazz steering completely away from metal altogether, it sounds more like a bunch of guys screwing around pretending to play music together than an actual song.
Cross-breed: Meshuggah takes on Mars Volta, as rendered by Anal Cunt.
Reason To Buy: Mabus is fascinating, that’s for sure. Quite a bit raw around the edges at this point, but interesting in concept. But until they become a bit more listenable, it may be best to let them hang out on the shelf a bit longer.
