Error in Evolution

While Error in Evolution develops a set of problems all its own (hell, the title even implies such), and I was hesitant to even check this out after so mild a reaction to the debut album, One Man Army and the Undead Quartet at least came off to me as entertaining here. As meek and primitive as some of the techniques were, and despite an obvious intention to implement cleaner, emotional vocals (which were sparse on 21st Century Killing Machine), there's an appreciable integration of melody into the chugging rhythm guitars. Most importantly, a few of the chorus sequences on this album actually stand out, whereas last time the best you'd get was some growling over a boring riff that was presumably supposed to be the most intense in that given song...

I think it's clear that a bit of Swedish melodeath influence crept in here in both the muscular momentum of the more traditional picking patterns, not to mention the dime a dozen melodies that break out in tunes like "Heaven Knows No Pain" or "Knights in Satan's Service" (an offhanded KISS tribute?!?) which you could find on any random clone of Dark Tranquillity or early In Flames. There's also a lot more jubilation in the lyrical/vocal construction and the pacing, which seems to be faster than the debut without going to extremes. A track like "The Supreme Butcher" almost seems like post-Exodus party thrash, where "Mine for the Taking" goes straight for the chorus and a great bridge. Much of the punctuality in the riffing reminds me of Children of Bodom, only without the ceaseless added level of noodling leads and synthesizers (if that makes sense). Lindstrand is definitely trying to stretch his pipes with some whinier clean vocals, developing a charisma somewhere between Anders Fridén's modern vulnerability and Alexi Laiho's rapaciousness, and then supporting this with his own blunt guttural force.

The peppiness of the drumming and pump of the bass from the first album both return here, but this time out I definitely felt a greater punch to the stomach when listening to the constant chugging, which helped ramp up my own enthusiasm. Rhythm guitar riffs are still largely bland and derivative, but the small choices being made in there are more pleasing to the ear, and they actually load up some slightly technical fills in tunes like "The Sun Never Shines". A few of the 'jump da fuc up' style progressions can seem distracting, but they actually conjure some interesting things with them where they integrate them in "See Them Burn" against the multiple vocal styles and the slower paced melodies. One track, the straight up metal anthem "He's Back (The Man Behind the Mask)", seems like it was meant to retroactively score some long forgotten 80s slasher gem, but the accented chorus melody might prove too cheesy to stomach for a number of listeners who just fucking hate everything Swedish post-Somberlain anyway. It IS an Alice Cooper cover, in their defense.

No doubt Error in Evolution would prove groan-inducing to that same crowd, and some fans of the debut might also not have appreciated its playfulness, since the band seems not to take itself so seriously. There's also no doubt that One Man Army and the Undead Quartet were aiming at a more pedestrian, everyman spin on the melodic death/thrash niche (comparable with The Haunted, or a clowny late 90s In Flames), while peers like Darkane were taking it into a more interesting, technical and dystopian direction. Naturally, the latter was more my style, but I walked out of this record with at least a fraction of amusement, while I can't remember even cracking a smile at 21st Century Killing Machine. Goofy, crowd pleasing, and self-consciously idiotic in places, Error in Evolution is not exactly a 'good' album, but it taught me that Lindstrand's new vehicle might have been capable of writing one.

-autothrall
http://www.fromthedustreturned.com

I can't exactly remember how I came across One Man Army and the Undead Quartert. I hadn't actually heard of vocalist Johan Lindstrand's linchpin band, The Crown, before I heard this band. All I knew was at the time I really enjoyed their balls out, no frills, and no seriousness take on the death/thrash metal sound. It was fun for sure, but nothing really exciting. Fast forward a few years later, and I happened to find this very album in a local record shop's used bargain been. Like so many other CDs I have found with a five dollar price tag, I bought it on the spot. I was especially confident in this album, because I had heard the band's material before and knew what was I getting myself into.

So really, there were no surprises. Error in Evolution is really nothing more than a solid outing of death/thrash that has a fifty fifty balance of death and thrash metal genres mixed with a dash of Scandinavian flair on top. It's nothing special and nothing new, but for the most part is executed very well. This is an album that doesn't really do anything out of the ordinary and does what it does well, but really doesn't do anything so amazing that makes it truly a memorable experience.

Lets get down to the nuts and bolts of this band. The One Many Army part of One Man Army and the Undead Quartet (god that is a mouthful) is easily recognizable as vocalist Johan Lindstrandt. His signature sort of deep but with an airy rapsy in back vocal styling is nothing unheard of from bands that come from the nations of northern Europe. He's got the right mix of gut and throat to sound pretty audible, which is nice. I appreciate some sense of audibility, and the fact that Johan is pretty clear is really nice. There are also these sort of clean vocals thrown in that seem a bit uncertain emotionally but I do like them. Even a few weird whispers through in there. They're well placed and serve as a nice accent to the more extreme offerings that Johan typically belts from his lungs. The vocal patterns are well done, catchy enough that the choruses are memorable but not really sing along awesome. All the styles flow into one another well enough, and everything seems rather seamless. Good job Mr. Lindstrandt.

Getting into the quartet part, you find more solidness and consistency on the part of the musicians in this Swedish death/thrash quintet. There are a lot of very good riffs here from guitarists Mikael Laegerbald and Pekka Kiviaho. They're very solid and heavy for the most part. These two guys really know how to make good use of their power chords, as they don't overuse them and they know when to really accentuate them for that extra bit of atmosphere and power. A lot of other bands can't say they do this nearly as well. They also contain enough palm muted chug to please the modern metal fan and keep things heavy without overdoing it. There are some very good standout riffs on tracks like "MIne for the Taking", "Knights in Satan's Service", "Such a Sick Boy", "See Them Burn", and "Hail the King", all of which are easily memorable and sound pretty good. The overlay harmonies on certain tracks are also done well. Lead wise also, Mikael Laegerbald does a good job. Nothing too out there in terms of theory usage or technical ability, but he is more than solid and knows how to construct a very good solo. What I feel though is that a lot of these riffs and leads, while adequate to pretty good, are just too safe. It's not quite "been there done that" level, but it does feel like the band could be going even harder and more balls out, and these guys could do that pretty easily.

The rhythm section of the quartet is not as consistent, but still is far from bad. Bassist Robert Axelsson is decent, his lines mostly just root notes and nothing to technical. But he keeps the time well and provides some nice low end between the guitars and the drums. Drummer Marek Dobrowski is the really talented member here, and I feel like he may be the most talented member of the entire band. Speed wise, he's definitely above average and I think skill wise is pretty close to Children of Bodom drumer Jaske Rattikaanen, which is quite a good comparison in my book. The speed variations between tracks are wonderful, and he sounds just as good and strong playing slow as he does fast. He seems to really have a good feel for rhythm on Error in Evolution, which a lot of drummers in this genre don't seem to really have. I appreciate that.

The lyrics are not terrible either. Most of them I actually find to be quite dark. Lindstrandt's voice really is very suited to these lyrics, as most of them sound so dark and haunting because he's the one that sings them. The lyrics deal with topics you'd expect to be heard on the more extreme side of things in the metal spectrum. Topics covered vary from things like death, anti religious themes, and all manner of misanthropic violence. Perhaps the best lyrics are on the track "Such a Sick Boy", which is about a boy who goes about committing a school shooting. This is one of the darker songs I've heard in awhile, and I really do enjoy it a lot. "Knights in Satan's Service" and "See Them Burn" are also wonderful lyrical outings. Again, overall, not a bad job for One Man Army and the Undead Quartet.

The mix again is not bad. It's modern, it's clean, and it's treble centric. The guitars have a nice clean sound to them, not a lot of grit but a ton of clarity. The tones in particular sound awesome. The drums sound a bit too beat-boxy to me, especially the snare tone, but the bass drums sound okay and the snare cuts. The bass can be heard pretty well under everything, which I was surprised to hear considering just how guitar oriented and treble heavy the mix is. The vocals are nice and clean, which is also another plus.

So while Error in Evolution is a solid album that features really no wrongs, it does get rather monotonous and just doesn't jump out to me as something that really is that impressive throughout. Nothing on this album makes One Man Army and the Undead Quartet stand out in comparison to their peers, though it is hard to say that there are any outright errors in Error in Evolution.

One Man Army and the Undead Quartet was created with the death of the amazing deathrash band The Crown and this equals a similar sound to that of the previous band, but only slightly inferior. This is the first album I have by One Man... and I was expecting good things since Johan Lindstrand is one of my favorite harsh metal vocalists, but when I first heard this Johan sounds restrained and quite different. I would even venture to say that he doesn't even sound the same, there are no longer wild and evil shrieks that I came to love, it's just a variance of low growls with occasional high points. While this isn't the worst thing it's just not as frantic as it should be with the music.

One Man Army and the Undead Quartet are probably not trying to sound exactly like The Crown, but they have similar qualities, thrash quality drums, and thrash style guitar solos mixed in with the evil growls to equal almost quality deathrash. Whereas The Crown played at almost full speed every song, One Man... often displays a nice showing with mid-tempo songs such as "See Them Burn" which shows nice riffing mixed with solid drumming. Not all of their mid-tempo songs are done with good taste though, "He's Back (Man Behind the Mask) is a fairly boring song with clean vocals?! Not sure why that was incorporated because it doesn't mix well with the music I think. It's obviously not as good as the harsh vocals songs, but "Heaven Knows No Pain" also has a brief clean vocal part, which seems out of place. Fortunately "Hail the King" finishes off the album with a solid 'thrasher' with awesome drumming.

So what you will find on this album is a first half with awesome thrash riffs and some really well done drumming mixed in with low growled vocals by Johan Lindstrand. While obviously this is supposed to be a deathrash band it will not be anything hugely surprising or groundbreaking, but can really entertain you for a while. If every song could be consistent instead of lagging off and the last few songs this would have ranked higher but instead this is an simple deathrash album, I would have hoped to see this be as good as The Crown, but it seems Johan Lindstrand isn't on top of his game as he used to be. I recommend this to fans of The Crown or deathrash, even still don't expect to find anything 100% original or mindblowing. The musicianship is very talented but that doesn't always mean for great music unfortunately.

Best songs: Knights in Satan's Service, Such a Sick Boy, The Supreme Butcher, Hail the King