Customer Reviews

Machinations of Dementia

5 star:		(9)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

The Jarzombeks never disappoint! After teaming up with his brother Bobby for Spastic Ink, mad guitar scientist Ron Jarzombek is back out on his own. BLOTTED SCIENCE, his latest venture, is a collaboration with bassist Alex Webster (Cannibal Corpse) and drummer Charlie Zeleny (Behold...The Arctopus), 2 monster players who match up exceedingly well with Ron.

In fact, 'The Machinations of Dementia' just may be Ron's best work to date. While this is undeniably a Jarzombek-ian affair with Ron's unique signature guitar stylings at the center of it all, TMOD is much heavier than any of Ron's previous works, no doubt due to the technical death metal influence both Alex and Charlie bring to the table. TMOD doesn't quite reach Cannibal extremes (and no deathly vocals either!) or the reckless spaz of Arctopus but it's still heavy as a tank, beautifully complex, and intense to the max at every twist and turn - fans of progressive extreme metal will be in heaven!

But what really sets this album apart form the pack is how well the songs are written and put together. Lots of bands have chops today and can dazzle with wicked stop-n-gos and crazy off-beats that make your head spin but none can boast the type of seemless world class songwriting Jarzombek and Co. are pulling off on this disc! The ole adage, "all killer, no filler" certainly applies here and that's a tall order with almost an hour worth's of music!

If I had to pick out a couple of highlights it would probably be the somewhat Meshuggah-esque 'Night Terror', 1-2 opening punch 'Synapatic Plasticity' and 'Laser Lobotomy', and 'EGG Tracings' (and yes, there is theme to this album even though it is all-instrumental). Jarzombek is even nutty enough to attempt and pull off a musical palindrome as 'Adenosine Buildup' is 'Adenosine Breakdown' played BACKWARDS! Whoa....!

Really jawdropping stuff from start to finish, and anything less than a max 5-star rating would be an insult. Well done, guys!

Hypothetical question: Is it possible for to have "too much chops" as a guitar player? Those seeking an answer to this question need look no further than the latest project of iconoclast prog-metal pioneer Ron Jarzombek, of Watchtower and Spastic Ink fame. Mr. Jarzombek has been on the cutting edge of extremely advanced technical guitar wizardry for years- I personally consider Watchtower's "Control And Resistance" the blueprint of all that has become "shred" or "prog" metal in a modern context.

With the recent resurgence (read: marketability) of extreme metal in it's various styles, the tide has shifted, and there is an abundance of new talent out there....it's cool to be able to play again. Enter Ron Jarzombek's power trio from hell. Blotted Science is a collaboration between the old and new school of monster players, including Behold The Arctopus drummer Charlie Zelezny and Cannibal Corpse bassist Alex Webster, and is quite a remarkable accomplishment by any standard. Loosely conceptual in nature and skewed in a typically humorous and dark way like almost anything Jarzombek is involved in (check out the liner notes and song descriptions), this completely instrumental shred-fest is a bit much to take in all at once, and is perhaps best described as Buckethead and Meshuggah meets Dream Theater with a dash of Al DiMeola for good measure. It really is out there. People shoudln't be allowed to play music like this...(laughs) Recommended listening, and further proof from Ron Jarzombek that most other guitarists are posers.

This one is as good as "solitarily speaking of theoretical confinement", another masterpiece of trascendental music, this is more than just heavy rock, you don't listen this amount of virtuosism and quality compositions very often. Jarzombek is a musical genious with enough sense of humor not to take himself very seriously, but his music. Kudos to his bandmates too. Highest recommendation.

This album is beyond amazing. I'm going through a phase of trying new bands since I've just discovered the "tech-metal" niche. Having been a Dream Theater and Symphony X fan (of course) and gone through bands from Pain of Salvation, Zero Hour, Circus Maximus, Anubis Gate, Andromeda, etc. in the past 2 months I've finally stumbled upon this jem, and oh-my-chicken-Mc-Nuggets!!! What really drove me to really admire this album and thus write this rare review was that I thought highly technical instrumental metal was just robo-music with no emotion (and I do not have a problem with that, obviously) but I actually laughed out loud during a few moments on this album. What I'm saying in short was that I feel that this album was money well spent. This is a GREAT artist, just listen to the amazon previews.

It doesn't happen often that within 30 seconds of listening to a band I know I'm a fan and need to hear more. For me it's usually a process of getting familiar with the songs before I can really get into the music, but not with this album. This popped up on a radio station and I instantly wondered how I have never heard of this band.

The recording is pristine. The musicianship is technical and over the top. This is prog-metal but not the goofy/sissy kind of prog that you often find. It sounds closer to Between the Buried and Me/The Dillinger Escape Plan than it does to Dream Theater. The album has an underlying horrific feel to it and I think this would make an apt soundtrack to the worst of nightmares.

There is no singer but I never found myself wishing there was one. They are able to hold there own without having vocals get in the way. The album also clocks in at almost an hour, which for some people, for some reason, is a bit long. I guess whether or not you find that excessive depends on how much you like the album. Give it a listen and find out.

This is probably the best and most technically complex metal album I have ever heard in my life. The recording is awesome, it has the perfect crispness and clearity to hear this music the way it should be heard. The drummer from behold the arctopus is probably one of the best metal drummers alive or dead. I'm not even normally a huge metal enthusiast, but if you are a music addict, and love complexity and skilled musicianship, this record will not disappoint. I love that it is instrumental too, vocals would ruin this music, there's absolutely no room for them in here at all. Its very exciting music that never gets boring for one second. Seriously, this is some amazing stuff!

I love Behold the Arctopus but every now and then I could use a little more melody. I love inst-prog-metal bands like LTE and Spastic ink but sometimes I wish they were just a little heavier. Blotted science got it all!! We all know what Ron Jarzombek is capable of.(Isn't he afraid of injurying himself again from playing like that? A fearless man.) Alex Webster is one of the most talented bass players of all time, not just in the world of death metal. Charlie Zeleny has shown his talent in the work of Behold the Arctopus.

This record is without a doubt one of my ten best albums of all time and absolutely the album of the decade. It's been a long time since I had this kind of appreciation toward a musical work. Thanx guys. I got what I've wanted all my life. Prog-metal fans, this is a must-have.

This my main instrumental high energy music nowadyas. I love the whole CD. The energy is unrelenting. The players are fantastic by any standard. The taut and tight rhythm section explodes through speakers as the axe electrifies and unifies the complexity. The real strength of Machinations of Dementia is the writing. The compositions are a radiant amalgam of constantly shifting time signatures and unpredictable tonality shifts harnessed into strong musical statements with an aesthetically pleasing sense of balance. Loud statements at that! Support the band! Buy the CD.

this album is incredible and imo very underrated and under the radar, this is some of the heaviest playing youll hear from ron jarzombek and its just amazing, tons of cool riffs, lots of poly metric rhythm's and its all very original sounding. id recommend this too anyone who likes meshuggah, gojira, cannibal corpse, spastic ink etc etc but blotted science is very different from those groups in its own special way

To start, I'd give this album a 4 if it didn't sound like it was recorded in a tin can. If you're going to make an instrumental album, its gotta sound good. Aside from that, this is a solid effort. All the musicians are great. The songs are a bit repetitive, but good. Despite the fact that everyone else (so far) gave this a 5 rating, its nothing groundbreaking, doesn't really inspire or enlighten, and I can't say it has much staying power. There are several better instrumental metal/rock bands out there. But still its slightly different, interesting and worth a listen.