In the Realm of the Senseless

For most people, nonsense is nothing special in normal life, starting from television, Internet, goverment or "stronger" music. However, I will focus at the last of these, because of an over-conversion and overproduction it's easier for me to quote, especially for cd's, that suffer from it. However, the exception for me is Sam Bean's project (known from live shows with Mithras) perversely named The Senseless, which, right!, has little to do with nonsense.

On the contrary, it is a total contradiction of the band name and something definitely worth discussing. Obviously, the cover art of "In The Realm Of The Senseless" has nothing to do with the music, the texts were treated with humor, and in addition, there are several solutions that can shock experts in the matter. It all adds up to a very brutal, technical, slightly progressive and industrial-noise death metal mixed with grindcore. Isn't it interesting?

It should also be added that Bean is solely responsible for 99% of the instruments of this album (two guest solos are of Ol Drake [in "Promise"] and Matt Wilcock [in "Crippled Trash"]). Sam impresses here with a great variety of vocals (from clean vocals, growlings to noise screams), creative riffs, but also well-fitted programmable drums. They absolutely don't sting your ears! And this is quite a feat, bearing in mind how dizzying paces appear, for example, in "Crippled Trash", "No Bomb Is Big Enough" or "Vacation" and how this approach to drums is perceived in extreme metal.

The brutality is really huge, the blasts appear even where there are melodies (by the way, deeply rooted in classic rock), and there are also frequent combinations with technique and nonmetal surprises (beats in "Happy Ever After" and disco in the last song are the best example). It also gives a sufficient insight of how "In The Realm..." is strange material, and at the same time brave and extremely intriguing. After all, it is rare to come across a mix that would be able to reconcile fans of Morbid Angel and Cephalic Carnage.

Originally on: https://subiektywnymetal.blogspot.com/2020/11/the-senseless-in-realm-of-senseless-2007.html

Sam Bean is best known as the bassist for the unique grindcore band The Berzerker. However, The Senseless is his own solo band and ‘In The Realm Of The Senseless’ certainly shows he is a creative mastermind outside of The Berzerker. A lot of well renowned names have contributed to this album; Matt Wilcock from Akercocke and The Berzerker was involved with the engineering of the guitars as well as appearing on the album, The Berzerker frontman Luke Kenny handled mixing duties, Russ Russell mastered and produced the album and has worked with bands such as Dimmu Borgir and Napalm Death and Ol Drake from quick rising UK thrashers Evile makes a much appreciated guest appearance.

The album itself is not something that one would expect from the average grindcore band. The Senseless makes use of a variety of tempos, frantic riffing and even melodic guitar parts, all in all destroying the grindcore archetype. Song such as ‘Unprincipled’ and ‘A Big Comedown’ utilize crunchy aggressive riffs while ‘You Are Nothing’ slows the pace down and features a variety of different vocal styles.

The album is fairly adventurous for a grindcore release. The song that illustrates this the most is ‘After Happy Ever (Unmetal)’. As the title suggests, there is a lack of metal music involved. Instead, there is an infectious beat, accompanied by clear industrial influences through out and a nice piano part. This song could actually be considered relaxing!

This is an album that most fans of grindcore would certainly enjoy. It pushes the boundaries of the genre as a whole and dares to go places previously unexplored by The Berzerker so this is by no means a copy. Fans of The Berzerker would definitely enjoy this release as there are some similar qualities shared between the bands.

Originally written for www.rockbeast.co.uk

You know you're dealing with "something else" when you have to stop and ask yourself "is that a guitar riff or a really fast blast beat?" In the Realm of the Senseless (helmed by Sam Bean, ex-bassist for Australian grind mutants The Berzerker) is a loony, crazy-ass album that just doesn't stop, and the most impressive debut I've heard in recent memory.

Some bandleaders view it as a stab in the back when their members try to release solo albums, but The Berzerker's frontman Luke Kenny was supportive of Sam's side project, even producing the album for him. Listening to the CD, it becomes plain just how much a songwriting influence Sam really was to Luke's band. There's a lot of the electro-thrash and distorted kick drums that are The Berzerker's trademark, but also elements unique to The Senseless. The riffs are wacky, angular, and out-of-control, and the tempo changes so frequently it makes you nauseous.

The result is a lurching, manic, tirelessly creative album that is unlike most anything you've heard before. There isn't really a box you can put this band in. You start to think "okay, this is a grindcore album" or "this is gabba", and then the Senseless surprises you by doing something else. There's hip-hop parts, hardcore techno parts, Sam alternates between clean singing, black metal rasps, distorted robotic vocals (see track #7 "Promise") and even the occasional rapping! Think there's no such thing as funk-grind? There is now, bitchwhore!

The album's best song is "Vacation", an endearingly vapid song about getting away from it all that is powered by overdriven double-bass and Beach Boys-style surf rock riffs. This sort of thing could easily turn into self-parody but Sam pulls it off with brass balls. Catchy but wildly experimental, this is a song that once heard will stay with you forever.

The great thing about The Senseless is that they feel no need to engage in the retarded pissing contest of "let's see how shocking/controversial we can make our album" that many grind bands partake in. In other words, this isn't another Mortician where you get 20 minutes of gore/feces/pedophilia-related samples and maybe 15 minutes of tremmed riffs. They also ignore the metalhead mantra of heavier = better, and instead put all their focus behind writing catchy and memorable songs. The music is still heavy as fuck, but seemingly only as a side-effect of The Senseless's collective creative vision.

Bottom line? This is a band for people who think grindcore has become too comfortable lately. In the Realm of the Senseless is an amazing debut and this band deserves to be huge. Summer beach grind, muthafucka!