Final warning --- Neural Mass --- 2010 (Label unknown/unclear)
Neural mass are a heavy rock band from Canada, and let's be honest, we don't get too many of them! Their sound is classic heavy rock/heavy metal, with a good dose of prog rock and even some classical influences thrown in for good measure. This is their fifth and latest album, and though information on them is hard to come by (even their own website doesn't advise what lavel they record on, thus the above note), they would appear to be at core a three-piece outfit, consisting of Gary X Floyd (the “X” is important, apparently!) on vocals and keys, Sylvain Rodrige on drums and Mark Tremblay on guitar and bass. Although their own website credits this last as “guest musician”on this album, he seems to have been with them for four albums, including this, going back to 2002's “Sunshine hill”, so I would have considered him as more a full member. Perhaps therein lies a story, but if it does, I don't have it.
Opener “Monoxyde world” is a very impressive, nine-minute instrumental that never gets boring or overstretched, with great keys and synths from Floyd, solid drumbeats from Rodrigue and some really good guitar, although this appears to be credited, for this album, to Steve Otis. I'll come back to Tremblay later, as I think I may have pieced his story, at least partially, together.
There seems to be some sort of war going on in a dystopian future here, and the narrative, I think, follows the progress or afermath of this war, or attack. Hard to say which.”Trailer by the swamp” has a nice bassline opening, accompanied by a fluid organ sound, with intermittent drumming from Rodrigue. Vocals finally come in on this track, but to be honest I think I preferred it as an instrumental. Perhaps it's just the way the vocals are phrased, but on this track they don't sound too great.
“Female disaster” goes back to the narrated vocals, for want of another phrase, and it's a sort of jazzy, mid-tempo number with nice piano and keyboards, while “Cold temptress” seems to be the first time we get a ballad. It's a nice slow track with jangly guitar, but again the vocals seem at odds with the quality of the playing. Whoever's singing sounds European, like perhaps German or Danish: I guess there's no reason these guys can't be from Canada but of Euopean extraction. Lovely guitar solo in this track, really smooth.
“3 days”, a short, mad instrumental track sounds like Neural Mass captured Tom Waits and put him in a box, forcing him to play odd instruments for them! Very eclectic. “My death girl” proves that the vocals are definitely not up to scratch. They sound flat, expressionless, and kind of remind me of the lead singer from Tiamat, except he had a lot more emotion in his voice. Pity. If the vocals had been left off, this would have been a really good album. As it is, the singing is totally below par and ruins the songs it features in.
So, about this Mark tremblay then. It seems that he started off with them on “Sunshine hill”, as mentioned, playing guitar on five of the eleven tracks. On follow-up album “Opposite control” he was again playing guitar, this time it would seem the whole album, but by this album he has been tasked with bass duties as well as guitar, although Steve Otis (who now seems to be their permanent guitarist) is also doing guitar, and Tremblay is, as I mentioned, only given a “guest” credit. So you would have to assume he has at this point left the band, but either returned temporarily for this album, or else played on tracks which were already recorded before he left. That's how I see it, anyway.
“Actions in the nervous system” is, quite frankly, all over the place, with drum solos, instrumental, taped vocals, some out-of-control death vocals, and frankly it's one of the weirdest tracks I've heard in a while. Can't decide whether it's genius or rubbish. Interestingly-named “The undertaker's last customer”, the longest track on the album at just over eleven minutes, is a great baroque keyboard solo for the first two minutes or so, then changes to a nice proggy synth with guitars kicking in, with some nice drum machine sounds and some boppy keyboard. This is Neural Mass at their best: instrumental wonderland, with a few mad “sales talk” announcements, which are in fact quite good and well written, particularly the dire warning
”Other types of payment/ Will be met with violence!” I'm sure if you're “tripping” this sounds excellent --- sounds excellent to me, and I've never taken a drug in my life! I love this: track of the album for certain.
The title track, and closer, is another instrumental, and it's very seventies prog, very epic and dramatic. Some minimal vocals here to close things out, more of those taped reports, newsreel-style, spoken and narrated. I prefer these to the actual singing vocals, as these add an extra dimension to the instrumental pieces, whereas the singing itself becomes a distraction from them, and on the face of it, totally unnecessary.
As an instrumental album this works beautifully, and if Neural Mass can either keep the vocals to a minimum, or out altogether, or else vastly improve their singing style (or get someone who can), this band could be one to watch. As it is, a flawed masterpiece, but certainly worth listening to.
TRACKLISTING
1. Monoxyde world
2. Trailer by the swamp
3. Female disaster
4. Cold temptress
5. 3 days
6. My death girl
7. Viral zoonosis
8. Actions in the nervous system
9. The undertaker's last customer
10. Final warning