Numinosum [Import]

Finally..its here. Ive been waiting for this for soooo long. After the E.P. demo 'Iconoclast', i knew this would be special. All the tracks from said ep are again on here, just 'updated', or with more production, obviously that comes from a bigger budget. Dunno about it sounding much like Team Sleep(?), far more atmospheric..although i get why you might feel that..Anyway, fans of Burt must get this album..Great stuff.

I get the impression that Burton has done alot of soul searching lately. this music comes across as almost an expression of an inner journey to understanding either himself, who he is, the world around him, etc. And is very soothing and happy. Not like pop music garbage happy but uplifting in a good way. Not exactly existential but something. While the last songs on demanufacture and obsolete were dark and sad this is similar, just light instead of dark. Give it an honest listen and you may like it. No screaming or aggression on this at all which may alienate him industrial/metal fans from Fear Factory. The guys in Ministry helped out a bit with Al adding some instruments (lap steel, mandolin, keys) and executive producing and paul raven doing some bass and beat work. I think this is a great piece of work that shows the multi-talents of Burton. Give it a listen with open mind and ears and see for yourself.

Burton from Fear Factory's side 'project' is finally here. With mixed results. Overall i get the EXACT same vibe as i did when i bought Chino Moreno's(Deftones) side project 'Team Sleep'. Not so much that it sounds like that disc (though at times it does), its just the drastic change in music styles for an outside project. The frontman distancing himself to be 'creative'. It sounds like he was hinting at this style by the track 'Echo of my Scream' off the last FF disc ( The worst FF track ever). This takes it further. Seems like Burton is trying hard to have 2 working entities with this band and FF. So i judge this strictly on its musical content, not on who BB is and the fact i have been a FF fan for many years..

There are some diverse instruments, a very down vibe and haunting melodies. Somber. The keyboards (effects) are interesting and are the focus of most tracks. Not really 'Heavy', so if you only like FF and Heavier, than dont bother. The songs are decent, but the intros to some of them are very long and account for a lot of the time to the songs. I am sure they did it to create an ambiance, but it takes a while for some of the tracks to get going. Fact of the matter is, the songs just dont GO anywhere. You keep waiting for something and they fall flat. I kept waiting for 'Evading' to rev up, but it ends up forgettable. Burtons voice is flat at times as well, especially on 'Violet Morning'. Just bad.

A few songs Really drag unfortunately. Especially 'Canon for my Beloved'. Just seems to never end. The guitars are subdued on tracks like 'Violet Morning' with its acoustic base. That track also features Burton Bell singing in a straight forward style that is, well, interesting. There is electric guitar on tracks like 'Mars Becoming', but nowhere near as sharp as the FF stuff. Just kind of there. It goes all the way to different orchestral string arrangements on 'Moonshine'. I do like the funky vibe to 'Like Falling Snow'. Its a cool track and i will say that this CD is not a total loss because of it. . But then we are subjected to a cover version of 'Sounds of Silence', which doesn't do much. Nevermore's remake of that track can never be beat though, it kicks you in the as*!. Not to mention the 16+ minute final track. Has haunting piano and effects that is nice(Reminds me of 'Antimatter'), but doesn't need to be nearly as long.. Song is 11 minutes then 6 minutes of a scratching noise (Like a record ending). just Aggravating and is a bummer to get through if using the 'Random' button..

If nothing else i still have 'Like Falling Snow' which is a cool track, but not worth $15. They were onto something with the bass line and B Bells voice is unique on that track, just fits like a glove. But the other tracks will depend on your taste. I listened a few times, So its not a one listen review. I like a lot of progressive stuff as well, so i wanted to like this. My excitement about this disc was multiplied when i saw it was on Al Jorgensen's (Ministry) 13th Planet Records! After all, he put out Prongs latest which totally kicks as*! But i am just not feeling this CD its just not doing it for me overall.