Be prepared for a smorgasbord of musical styles when you sit down to the table of 7 Vials. This band combines the raw power of traditional heavy metal, the fierce pounding of Drum 'n Bass, the funky breaks and vocal styles of Hip Hop, the technological attack of electronica, the machine-like precision of industrial, and even the deep-seated roots and progressions of blues.
"Bullet To The Head (Alt Metal Mix)" is just such a fusion of these and more. Extremely instrumental, the vocals in this song actually are more of a background tapestry for the incredible mixture of sounds to be woven over. It takes many listens to this song to truly appreciate the depth and layers here, but once an acceptable amount of the song has soaked down into your brain tissue, one can begin to discern the influence of Thrill Kill Kult, Ministry, Nine Inch Nails, to name just a few; I could on to say I hear even more: Filter, Crystal Method, Orbital, 808 State, Atari Teenage Riot, Incubus, Stabbing Westward, D.J. Greyboy, others. But despite these and probably dozens more similar artists that make up the influencing factors of 7 Vials' music, this is a band that remains 100% its own, unique entity. I have always derided those who attempt to attribute an artist's work as nothing but a linear progression back to an earlier artist; aren't all musicians influenced by someone who came before? Ultimately, we could say that all songs written today were influenced by Mozart, Chopin, Handel, Haydn, Bach, if we chose to take this logic to its ultimate and utterly ridiculous end. Exposition aside, "Bullet To The Head" is a panoply of sound and music and cool, esoteric vision. It is a feast of musical expression, an artistic blending of style; 7 Vials took what it needed from the musical spectrum, regardless of invisible and restrictive genre-borders, to produce the result it sought.
"Bullet To The Head" isn't so much a song as it is a musical piece. This is music to close your eyes and absorb, to crank up on the speakers or headphones and THINK about, to make love to; equally, it is music to blast at a party and dance to, to bang your head to until your neck tendons pop, to play at a club, to add to a hip movie during an action sequence. Well-produced, well-written, well-played, this is a technically proficient piece that creates its OWN genre, sets ITSELF apart from the herd, gives itself the musical freedom to express what it needs.
Play this song several times to truly appreciate the genius here - it is not for everyone, but definitely a touchstone for those who know good MUSIC, it all its forms, and can see past convention to well-written, pure Expression.
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Charisma:
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7.50 |
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Technical Skill:
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8.50 |
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Structure:
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8.50 |
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Interest:
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8.00 |
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Lyrics:
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7.50 |
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Recording Quality:
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8.00 |
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Long Term Appeal:
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8.50 |
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OVERALL:
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8.10 |
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On December 3rd 2003 mp3.com ceased as a music hosting service in turn breaking the link that was supplied with this review.
Until we can determine the best way to update our database, we invite you to use the following link to do a Google search for the artist and song
http://www.google.com/search?q='7vials'+'Bullet To The Head' -mp3
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