Customer Reviews

Psycho Surgery

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

 

 

This is Tourniquet's second release and one of the band's best. "Psycho Surgery" is a huge progression over the band's great debut "Stop The Bleeding". The band was still in the process of finding it's unique sound, what some have termed Thinking Man's Metal. The bands influences , (Slayer, Megadeth, Metalica), clearly show through. The title track is an absolutely amazing Slayer influenced thrasher and still one of the band's best songs. "Sterotaxic Atrocities" is the best song that Megadeth never wrote. Guy Ritter, the band's singer does his best Mustaine on this track. The thrash riffs are heavy and fast. The vocals, handled by Ritter and lead guitarist Gary Lenaire are melodic and agressive. The band not only play great riifs, but they also know how to write great songs . This cd is recommended for fans of lates 80's / early 90's thrash metal. However, unlike so many bands of that time Tourniquet delivers heavy music with a purpose. Music that was made to offer hope in a world so full of despair.

Showing off great technical skills, Tourniquet's second album really shows how great of musicians they really are.

Tourniquet deserves major credit for daring to break the Christian metal mold of modelling themselves after successful secular acts. (There are many other original bands recently, but such originality was less common a few years back). The technical musicianship here is unmistakable. Percussion is especially noteworthy, but the guitar work deserves mention as well. Styles and tempos are mixed frequently, and intelligently. One sees hints of jazz, classical guitar, and doom rock, but it's mostly energetic, slightly unorthodox (progressive) thrash.

There is a near-instrumental (some dubbing), and one song with a hip-hop vocal. Normally, this would strike me as forced and be a distraction, byt Tourniquet is smoothly eclectic enough to make it work here. And Broken Chromosomes shows splendid creativity as a song sung from the perspective of a person with Down's syndrome. The finale of this song definitely is triumphant, which marks a sharp contrast from the despairing tone of the song up that point. (They also toss in a dash of what sounds like disco at the end here, which does not detract from the "metalness" in the least, but actually adds punch at the end--if you hear it, you'll know what I mean.) Other lyrical themes include a domestic violence, a protest against animal experimentation (one of the doomiest songs Tourniquet has done), and a theological critique of numerous, what traditional Christians take to be pseudo-Christian "cults."

A possible drawback (though I adjusted) was the occasional Guns'and Roses, nasally kind of vocal, mixed with a vaguely Megadeth-ish barking. But while it isn't that good, it works because this band "fits" so many styles into what they are doing, that any one vocal style can be used without seeming out of place. If you focus on Christian metal, this is 5 stars--but any objective metalhead would acknowledge its merits, whether or not its style(s) is their own particular cup of tea. Throhghout, it is musically and thematically well-performed,diverse, and creative.

This album is right up there with the best Megadeth and early Metallica albums in terms of overall quality. The drummer is one of the finest drummers in Metal and the music is clearly influenced by classical music a bit to give it a very distinctive sound. Though my primary musical interests lie more with the progressive and progressive metal genre's, this is a fine addition to anyoe's collection. This album and Pathogenic Ocular Dissonance are two of the best albums in metal.

I haven't bought the CD, but I've listened to the songs through YouTube. WHAT A GREAT ALBUM!

Tourniquet all the way!

I'VE BEEN A LIFELONG FAN OF THEIRS.SO I HAD TO GET THIS CD AGAIN.TED IS A AWESOME DRUMMER.HE IS AN INFLUENCE OF ME AS A DRUMMER AND A CHRISTIAN.A CLASSIC MUST FOR ANY FAN

Heavy metal with a Christian theme.

1. Psycho Surgery (4:14)
2. A Dog's Breakfast (4:27)
3. Viento Borracoso (Devastating Wind) (3:06)
4. Vitals Fading (2:46)
5. Spineless (5:12)
6. Dysfunctional Domicile (5:01)
7. Broken Chromosomes (5:21)
8. Stereotaxic Atrocities (4:21)
9. Officium Defunctorum (6:26)

Tourniquet is:
Guy Ritter - Lead vocals, effects and keyboards
Ted Kirkpatrick - Drums
Gary Lenaire - Lead and rhythm guitars, lead vocals
Erik Mendez - Lead and rhythm guitars
Victor Macias - Bass and vocals

This is by far the best Thrash Heavy Metal CD in Christian Music to date!

Simply a VERY STUPID CD complete waste of money as with all their other albums.