Liquid Monster

Oh wow. This was the first Brainstorm album I ever heard, and as a result what originally sold me on the band. This is also why I’m sitting here now writing this review on one of, whom I believe to be, the most reliable bands in the genre. However, I will say that I do have some slight bias towards this album, and a lot of memories attached with it. Hence I might not be able to be as critical as I would like.

First things first though, this isn’t the best Brainstorm album, and actually, as far as their discography goes, this one ranks a little further down in the pile compared to the likes of Metus Mortis, Downburst, Unholy, and Soul Temptation. The album houses quite a bit of filler, and is a slight more streamlined than the last album (which seemed to be the trend for the band at this point in their career).

Miro is still providing the keyboards here on Liquid Monster, although they’re not as prominent as I thought they were on the last release. However, somewhere along the line the guitars have become a little more reined in, especially when compared with Metus Mortis where they were on fire. I guess there was a slightly noticeable decline in their crazy mid-section harmonies and riffs on Soul Temptation, though not so noticeable as it is here. Still, there are plenty of ass ripping riffs to be enjoyed; it just pains me that a lot of the promise delivered with Metus Mortis was never fully realized.

“Worlds Are Coming Through” opens up with some slightly futuristic sounding keyboards paving the way for big chugging riffs and a massive chorus. “Inside The Monster” is probably the best song here, and definitely one of the finest the band have penned. Everything great about Brainstorm can be heard inside this particular monster (oh ho ho), and Andy’s vocals are sublime. “Lifeline” is pure Painkiller-style Priest, and is another of the highlights on Liquid Monster along with “Invisible Enemy”, which houses one of the album’s finest choruses. “Even Higher” is a pretty cool track too, although more typical of the band.

Typical of the band would be a good description for the whole album, in all fairness. There is quite a bit of filler on here which sees Brainstorm on autopilot, and tracks such as “Painside” or “Despair to Drown” are pretty standard; sadly really leaving little lasting impression. Whilst the performances are good, and there are some quality tracks, this should be one of the last albums you check out amongst the Brainstorm back catalogue.

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Even the week after this album came out I found it in my local record store's bargain bin. I wound up paying about seven bucks for it and I figured that almost no album can be so bad that it isn't worth $7. And I was right, although if it had been any more it would have been a waste. "The Worlds are Coming Through" has a great chorus, powerful singing; a song that made me raise a fist to the air the first several times that I heard it. "Mask of Life" ups the melodic factor, and the outro where the guitar fades away to piano is quite powerful.

Sadly other than this, the songs are a waste of time. "Inside the Monster" is decent, but nothing really memorable about it. The guitar soloing is so incredibly bland and stale, even for power metal. The notes are all played at the same speed, there's no variation or anything that would constitute "shredding," yet there are no melodic hooks to be found in them either. The riffs range from pretty good to pretty bad, nothing laughable but not much to headbang to either. Andy's singing is probably the best part, he has a fairly unique voice and sometimes he's the only positive aspect of the entire song.

Don't waste your time with this album. Pick up Symphorce's "Godspeed" instead of this crap, for unless you can find "Liquid Monster" as cheap as I did, save your money instead.

Liquid is the opposite of solid, I don't know if this is a coincidence, but Brainstorm's latest effort 'Liquid Monster' isn't exactly a solid album, in the sense that the album is very inconsistent. The main ingredients of this Brainstorm album are the same as on all the last couple of albums; the powerful, slightly progressive Metal of the Germans is still decorated by Andy B. Franck his powerful, Zak Stevens-like vocals, and some spectacular guitar work at some points. The level of song quality on this album just varies too much to make it a really good one. This has been a general symptom for Brainstorm's albums lately, but it's never been as extreme as on 'Liquid Monster'.

For example, this album starts out with two of the very best songs Brainstorm has ever recorded. 'Worlds Are Comin' Through' isn't really a typical opening track, especially figuring that it's a midtempo track, but it's very powerful and very cool. 'Inside The Monster' even gives me goosebumps, this is definitely how I like to hear Brainstorm; powerful, emotional and a chorus which isn't too obviously based on a sing-along part. This chorus might just be the best the band has ever done and the song is definitely in my top three Brainstorm-songs (not one song seems to be able to equal 'Shiva's Tears' and 'Maharaja's Palace').

After two of Brainstorm's best songs, we're getting into one which is easily one of their worst ever. It's called 'All Those Words' and every time I hear it, I just makes me want to pierce my finger through my eyeball and tear my brains out, so that it doesn't have to deal with these sounds. Why? This is one of the most awful, forced choruses I have ever heard and the keyboards are way too overdone. Count to that that there is a completely useless addition of a soprano singer and if that doesn't give you enough reasons to skip the track, then don't...

'Lifeline' speeds up the pace for the first time and is actually a pretty good song. Not as good as the first two songs, but pretty enjoyable. Andy's accent kind of disturbs me in the chorus, but furthermore, this is a pretty good song. 'Invisible Enemy' would have been as well if it didn't have such an annoying chorus. It sounds very forced in the sense that it's supposed to be very sing-along again. Too bad, there's some nice guitar stuff in the song and it has a very interesting interlude.

When I thought I had the worst lowpoint with 'All Those Words', then there's the godawful ballad 'Heavenly'. It lacks conviction and I am 100% positive that Andy can sing a lot better than this. Another annoying chorus to finish this all off. It sounds exaggerated and not genuine from the first notes on.

Luckily, this is where the album picks up its level again. 'Painside' is based on some very powerful guitar riffs and some nicely executed (read: subtle) keyboards. The way these are fit into the song kind of remind me of Gamma Ray's 'Shine On'. This song is structured really well, there is an obvious kind of tension present and the chorus is sing-along once again, though not annoying at all this time.

'Despair To Drown' seems to have a little startup trouble. It's definitely the heaviest track on the album and there is some amazing guitar work in the middle of the song and there are some nice changes in the rhythm feel. The verses just sound rather forced in heaviness, not genuine at all. Too bad, with nicely executed verses, this would have been one hell of a killer track!

The following two songs, 'Mask Of Life' and 'Even Higher' are nothing spectacular, but definitely great songs. 'Mask Of Life' has another great, tension-filled structure. A very nice guitar solo as well! 'Even Higher' starts out with one of the most killer riffs on the album. In fact, the entire song is really, really great, apart from the chorus, which is okay, but not up to par with the rest of the song. And what's up with the lyrics? "Don't hang me high, just even higher"? Too bad, the rest of the song is powerful and adrenalized, the way Power Metal is supposed to sound, but can be heard so rarely.

'Burns My Soul' closes off the album and does that in a good way actually! Another midtempo track filled with emotion and sung very powerfully. Somehow I think it's kind of a dreamy song. After an extremely varying album, this song might just convince you to put the album on again.

You might all have noticed my extremely careful tone with most of the songs and that exactly sums up my thoughts about the album; it's definitely not a bad album. In fact, it's way better than most of the Power Metal albums that are released nowadays. There are some really great tracks on this album, too bad that the best two are right at the beginning. There are some really bad ones as well. The rest is all pretty good or mediocre. If you like Brainstorm, you will definitely like this record, but if you're trying to get into them, my advice would be to get 'Metus Mortis' or 'Soul Temptation' first.

Ever since Andy B. Franck joined Brainstorm they’ve put out some real cool heavy/power metal albums. “Metus Mortis” is a real monster, and “Soul Temptation” too, so is the 2005 release “Liquid Monster” really a monster ?

Well, both yes and no. This album is really uneven. It has about 5 great tracks, and then I mean great, and 1 that is OK. But the rest is just really fillers. With for example “All Those Words” which really is catchy as hell and poppy (just listen to the chorus), a real radio-friendly song in other words. I’ll just take the great ones instead, the opener “Worlds Are Coming Through” is a mid-paced heavy song and is a typical Brainstorm opener, nice intro too. The 4th song, and real fast at sometimes, “Lifeline”. The fast parts is awesome, and the verses and chorus are good. Then it takes a while again until it explodes at song 7, "Painside". A true Brainstorm heavy stomper with awesome verses, but a pretty weak chorus. Short, but nice solo on this one. Next is the 8th song, “Despair To Drown” which is a moderately fast one with really good verses and a decent chorus. And I love the little speedier parts that begins at 2:31, and then comes back again at 2:42. Really nice stuff. And the 10th song, “Even Higher” is one of best Brainstorm songs ever, a fairly fast song with cool verses & bridge and a bone-breaking chorus. The chorus is this song’s golden part. It’s awesome man. And the “OK” song is the last, “Burns My Soul” the mid-paced guitar playing is the nice thing here. Well yeah, that’s about it. The other songs is in my opinion just boring and lame. Mostly because they’re so damn slow, or is too catchy and radio-friendly. Not much of those songs that has any groove I tell ‘ya.

So with that said, this is not Brainstorm’s best monster. At least "Ambiguity", “Metus Mortis” and “Soul Temptation” beats this album easily. They should have made more songs like the opener, “Despair To Drown” and absolutely “Even Higher”. The production on this album is actually not the best, I like the production on “Metus Mortis” most, but this album actually beats S.T. on that part. And one thing more, the cover. I just say –“Both thumbs up” it’s totally awesome and by far the best Brainstorm cover ever. A absolute attractive cover indeed.

If you never have heard Brainstorm before, skip this album and begin with the other three I mentioned. Then make your way to buy this. And do not forget the two first albums, they're also great. But if you would like some more catchy & melodic stuff you should check this one out first. In my opinion, a OK album with some high "heights" but some low points too.