Customer Reviews

Lucid Interval

5 star:		(19)
4 star:		(6)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

This band caught me by total surprise, I picked it up on a whim @ Vintage Vinyl in Jersey on vacation (due to a little write up they had posted above the album). This one brings back memories of what made early Morbid Angel great, "Necroticism" era Carcass great, Napalm Death "Peel Sessions" fury and even the good parts of a band that only had moments in my opinion Dark Throne (and I dont want to leave out that they seem to owe a riff or two here and there to early My Dying Bride, "Swans" era).
Reading that description might make you think this band are rip off artists...not the case at all. They blend their obvious influences into their own new, fresh sound. At times this is brutally doom heavy and then with one flick of a cymbal the band launches into full on hyper drum regalia rivaling the best Napalm Death efforts. The soloing (which is kept in good balance) reminds me of the free-ness (or just chaotic-ness) of Trey Azagoth (Morbid Angel). The vocals remind me of the Carcass album "Necrosticism" with the trade off higher screams and the low end gutteral growling...a great balance, loved it then, love it now. The album is intersparsed with very interesting changes of pace and some electronic sounds thrown in well here and there. This is one that gets your juices flowing. Where as a lot of 'popular' "death" or "grindcore" bands seem one dimensional (cannibal corpse, deicide, six feet under) Cephalic separate themselves from the pack with amazing displays of speed, power and down right heaviness. I havent even bothered to check out the lyrics since I got this CD, I'm too busy listening to it to care...
Why not 5 stars? At times the pace plods... not often, a very minor critique.. I'd rather give it 4.5 stars but you cant do that here.

"Lucid Interval" Cephalic Carnage's third release is a mind- blowing musical work.A scorching combination of mangled Death Metal riffage and blistering drum work that have been filtered through a sieve of progressive musicality.What emerges from this smouldering heap of scattershot rhythms and contortionist song structures is a sonic beast of the most erratic yet crushing nature. For the duration of "Lucid Interval" we are assaulted with pummeling yet intricate percussive dexterity , thick waves of guitar wattage that spew forth off-kilter rhythmic bombardment and of-course a fun yet chaotic nature that influences the albums ebb and flow. "Lucid Interval" is unique and intense yet fun , not to mention the freakin' blisterin' production job and what you have here is sumthin' for the entire family. Fabulous!

....operate a vehicle or heavy machinery. Why? Because trying to keep up with it while trying to do anything else can only lead to disaster. This isn't the kind of music you listen to in the car on your way to your job at IBM. While the name of the band is a reference to the effect that massive doses of pot can have on the brain, I can only surmise that this album was recorded while these gentlemen were COKED OUT OF THEIR F**KING SKULLS. This is one of the most insane albums I've ever heard. This is not a huge "head-banging" album. It's technical, but I don't know why "technical" sometimes has to translate to "random and incoherent" with certain metal bands. I guess I can't hold too much against them. After all, they are my CO bretheren. Give this a listen if you want metal that is totally off the map and you're stoned off your ass.

hell yea , this album kills...i saw these guys at a show and picked up this cd....this is definately the most unique album of the year...these guys play tripped out Hydro inspired death grind, ...they do it all, warp speed blast beats, heavy as **** grooves, odd time signature stuff, even some jazz inspired moments
VOCALS--Lenzig is great, hes got the best range ive ever heard, from INSANELY low growls and croaks, to raspy mid range nastiness, and psychotic high screams...the lyrics are really interesting too, topics include perverted roman emperors,conjoined twins at war, and universal creation
GUITARS--Crazy riffs, really fresh sounding stuff, nobody really writes stuff like this,...technical, quirky at times, disgustingly heavy,....i have no idea how they make up this stuff
DRUMS--John is awesome, i saw him live and he pulled all the songs off flawlessly..this stuff is very challenging, from sheer speed and endurance on the hyperblast and double bass parts, to some really mind boggling technical stuff ...killer drummer
BASS--what can i say, theres nothing too different here, but he definately does his job in the band, and i magine this stuff would be really hard to play
highlight tracks are "psuedo" "anthro emesis" "lucid interval" and "the isle of california"......BUY THIS ALBUM IF YOU WANT SOMETHING DIFFERENT AND ORIGINAL....THIS STUFF IS BEYOND DEATH AND GRIND

People, this is simply the way metal was intended right here, Hydrogrind! LUCID INTERVAL is pure destruction, it takes you places, musically, that I bet you've never been. CEPHALIC CARNAGE is the greatest grind/metal band ever to exist, their predecessors are put to shame with this album. I am A huge fan of these guys and have had the pleasure of seeing them play live. Take it from me, if you want quality grindcore purchase LUCID ITERVAL, as well as EXPLOITING DYSFUNCTION, CONFORMING TO ABNORMALITY, and ANOMOLIES. All these pieces of work are easily comparible to the creative works of classical musicians but in the never fading genre of DEATH and GRIND!

Cephalic Carnage unveil LUCID INTERVAL, a high-impact dose of unique sounds combining various styles of heavy music with elements of jazz-fusion and an ultra-keen sense of progression. Cephalic Carnage bend genres with wild counter-rhythms, exceptional musicianship and hairpin twists and turns.

This album is insane, as you can get from any of the other interviews. I'm mainly writing this because that a** hole david koblentz, or whatever the f**k his name is gave it four stars making it an average of 4 1/2 stars. get the album...f**k david. sorry about the *'s, you can't post any of the real words.

lucid interval is not any one particular style of metal. yes, rooted in grindcore and deathmetal, cephalic carnage collectively have the ability to chainsaw through your eardrums with brilliant speed and horrific texture... but there is much more to this one.

these guys are playing music as if it were a sport... i bet they get an endorsement from powerade or something. the acrobatics are constructed into a fury of flashes but remain within bounds of comprehension... tightly fused to the destructive force that they will always contain. yes, the band previously did in fact have disturbingly disorienting transition, unruly time signature, and subsonically driven intent to pelt you with a barrage of chaos and smash you with a crashing wall of sound...
but on lucid interval, it is a more controlled output from end to end - tight performance with crystal clear recording and production. it has more song structure focus than previous releases and a warmer tone overall... but by no means is it softer, slower, weaker, or less chaotic and dynamic.

they take all of experience and ideology from previous releases and push the envelope. the album is a delightful challenge for both performers and listeners. it is a must own for those who like to play music too loud as well as a great one to own if you enjoy listening to albums from beginning to end.

I have to say that this CD is one of the best of my collection. Grindcore is usually some random riffs and a guy smacking the drums at an almost superhuman speed. Pretty hard stuff and a good alternative to Death Metal. However, this is different. Cryptopsy shocked the world of extreme Metal in 1996 with the brutal album "None so Vile" when they got to the speed of grindcore playing killer Death Metal riffs, awesome solos and using super fast percussion. They played Death Metal at the speed of grindcore. This guys play grindcore but...They play music too. Grindcore is an excellent way you can release tension. The horrible vocals and the extreme speed of the drummers are the most brutal sounds "out there". This album has some reasons why is excellent.
They play riffs that you don't find in other grincore albums.
Unlike the majority of the Death Metal and grindcore bands, they don't spend 5 minutes writing lyrics about silly Satanism, killing babies or torturing people. This guys write good lyrics. In this field, the metalheads don't give a crap about the lyrics (Like me) but getting an album with this lyrics is refreshing. This guys were really shocked by 9/11 and the sister of the main frontman died in the same week of the attack. They make fun of the Black Metal that is getting so stupid nowadays because of some bands. Social, political and historical suff is covered here. Great.
The other reason why this CD is so great, is because is INNOVATIVE. They did something NEW. There's even some jazz fusion in the middle of some songs. The way some songs are written. This is really good. Spanish guitar or crazy keyboards. Don't get me wrong, this is not "melodic-grindcore". But is awesome. "Exploiting Dysfunction", their other album, is great too, but this one is more organized. It still has those wild counter rhythms but this time, they get in the right moment.
The Drummer is excellent. He can be fast as hell and organized like a jazz drummer. Some killer double bass too.
The Guitars: is excellent too. Some VERY heavy riffs or some fast stuff that reminds me Cryptopsy.
The Bass: is good. Is also fast and sometimes very heavy. If you have one of those speakers with heavy bass, you better turn it off because you car will blow up. Sometimes the bass is even heavier than Suffocation.
Vocals: Some brutal growling by Lenzig that you can understand only if you read. He can speak very fast with the growling. Not too many people can do that. John is the second "singer" while he plays the bass. They both do an excellent job together.
I hate calling an album the best in a gender but this is probably the best grindcore album. This is some excellent music. Organized and innovative. Easy 5/5 for "Lucid Interval".

i'm going to be brief and tell you what you need to know about this album.

there are about five great songs on here that are amazing. and two or three songs that are a-ok by cephalic carnage standards.

the great songs are:
anthro-emesis: a trippy song with a cool main riff, all out technical drumming. an interesting opus about ancient rome and some really perverted caesars. there's no reason to not like this song, that is, unless you don't like grind or death metal.

pseudo: great intro that is reminiscient of dillinger escape plan and a hilarious break after the first verse that goes: right guitar trill, left guitar, bass, drum roll. you'll love it, i know i did. the rest of the song is good too. worth the listen.

black metal sabbath: cephalic carnage does a take on black metal with their patented grind twist, plus a great sabbath-esque stoner rock break down in the later half. awesome riff. i wish they did more stuff like that, but then i could just go listen to bongzilla or spirit caravan.

cannabism: just an interlude, but great nonetheless. nice flamenco acoustic guitar and spanish guy singing which is a perfect lead in to the amazing title track.

lucid interval: just a flat out great song. technical, hummable, catchy, brutal and heavy. weird too. no one really does breaks the way cephalic carnage does.

the rest of the album after this song are pretty good too, though these are the standout tracks. the rest of the album is listenable but it is does not have the well roundedness of exploiting dysfunction where every track was a great listen. this is a good album, others might not be as picky as I, so i'd suggest you pick it up if you are a fan of weird music, want something cool to listen to when you're stoned, or like some nice, strong grind. this is definately entertaining, though if you haven't gotten an album by these guys yet, start with exploiting dysfunction. overall: good but could've been better. i think that if these guys keep at it for a couple more albums, they could be the pink floyd of grind. but they're not quite their yet.