The Four Scissors

Transcending Bizzare? is one of the most unique bands I've come across in quite a while. Their first full length, The Four Scissors, shows a demonstration of a mixture of avante-garde and symphonic elements, both in keyboards/synths and guitar. When a band of bored Greek guys get together, this is what you end up with.

The Four Scissors starts out with a pretty odd intro, "Satellite Souls," which after two and a half minutes morphs into "Dessicated," a song loaded with tremolo riffing and pounding double bass drums, meshed with odd orchestral keys and ..dare I say it, bizarre pinch harmonics scattered about. "A New Saturn!" has to be the best track on the album. This single song showcases the truly avant-garde tendencies of this band. A lot of uplifting, yet somewhat sorrow-filled staccatos on part of the keys give this song a truly ...epic (I honestly hate describing things as "epic") feel.

Moving on, the beginning of most of the songs on this album consists of weird spoken word monologues and quotes from movies before diving right into the music. Precise drumming, great guitar riffs, and the bass is a gigantic wall, reimbursing the rest of the instruments.

Vocally, The Four Scissors is very inconsistent. They range from standard black metal, to death metal growls, to... a mixture of the two. I'm not really sure how to describe it, but it fits at parts, and sometimes does take a bit away from the music itself. If anything, this is the only flaw on the album.

As for the production, it's very high end, but not flawless. Some of the effects clash with the high pitches, creating a frequency disturbance. The synthesizer uses a radio-static effect, and when this clashes with the bass and guitars, there's a slight fuzz-out, diminishing the volume almost completely. This is a major problem throughout the album, and can be quite annoying.

Flaws aside, this is a very enjoyable release and I recommend it to anyone who's up for different, more orchestral/dramatic themed metal.

Transcending Bizarre? is one hell of an odd band. However, I mean that in the most positive way. Their freaky, off-color sound is what makes them so unique in a genre filled with repetitive and horribly produced shit. Don't get me wrong here, because I do enjoy black metal, but I like it when bands in generally formulaic genres mix things up. That's exactly what Transcending Bizarre does.

I won't bore you with lengthy track by track descriptions, but rather, I will bore you with a regular review. I will, however, say this: if you are a fan of good music, black metal, avant-garde, or just plain anything metal, you owe it to yourself to pick up this album. I suggest going and getting the album this instant to be completely surprised by the greatness, but I understand that you'd probably like to know what the fuck they sound like before you do something rash like that.

The two guitarists deliver pulsating, heavy, and catchy riffs on every single track. I'm not sure which guitarist is playing which part at any given time, but who gives a fuck which guitarist is playing, as long as it sounds good? Pounding drums lay down thick beats which are built upon by the guitarists, but the instruments never overpower the other. Kolzak delivers some really great vocals. I'm not a huge fan of black vocals in general, but for some reason I find these ones in particular relaxing and very easy on the ears. The vocals aren't intrusive or distracting; they're simply another instrument used to create the calculated and almost mathematical sound of this band. I'm also not sure if the singing is entirely in English, but I don't know what the fuck they're singing about anyway, and, judging by the track names and the few things I do understand, I'm not missing out on anything. Note that "the four scissors" sounds like "the foe sheeshas" with the Greek accent, which is actually somewhat endearing. There are occasional operatic female vocals, and while they fit the music well, they're not anything to write home about.

What truly sets Transcending Bizarre? apart from the legions of generic and horrible black metal bands (with names like Satan's Asshole, Goreshit, etc.) is the excellent use of samples and other unconventional computer-ish sounds throughout the entire album. At times, you'll feel as though you're listening to some strangely beautiful bastard child of techno, progressive, and black metal (please don't inquire as to why I included three "parents", as I just thought it sounded cool). Don't be turned off by this fact, either, if you're a techno-hater, because I pretty much hate the genre aside from one or two bands. Transcending Bizarre? manages to pull off the techno-ish sound without sounding corny or shitty, but rather the opposite: unique and top-quality metal. Also, clocking in at only about 37 minutes, this album doesn't wear out its welcome, instead leaving you begging for more, or, at the least, highly content.

Please, if you have any desire to hear something unlike anything you've ever heard before that will blow your mind, do yourself a favor and pick up this album. Here's to hoping for a sophomore release as great as the first.