Dr.Slaggleberry - Scat [Single]

Crash Records

August 21, 2008, 03:42 PM

Dr.Slaggleberry as a name doesnt really give you any clue as to what to expect from this single. The promo CD is also very nondescript with just a basic white CD and some black text. This really could be anything . Something fun about that I think.

As soon as the track fires up the weird rythmic changes etc remind me of Between the Buried and Me. The major difference though instantaneously is the production quality and more mellow feel with regards to all aspects of the song. The players are rythmically tight which makes for a fun listen when they change time signatures on a dime.

The overall sound is slightly weird. Because of the rhytmic patterns and time signature changes it feels like a technical metal band HOWEVER all of the guitar tones and drums sound really clean and quite far away from metal. The vocals initially are screams but again due to the production they sound a bit weak. After that initial blast, the vocals become some messed up vinyl scratching sound which is utterly weird. I would hazard a guess here that these vocal tricks have been done to cover up a bad or un-confident vocalist and not for "out there" and trippy reasons. There is not one moment where the vocals actually shine on this track and to be honest it would have appealed to me more if it had just been the band playing together instrumentally as all the vocals seem to do for me is take away from the skill of the band. Believe it or not there is quite enough going on without the need for vocal IMO.

If they were to heavy up their sound, do better vocals (or get rid of them altogether) and get better quality and fully produced and mastered sound recordings this band might start making a buzz in the underground metal scene. As it stands right now it is like listening to Between the Buried and Me with their guitars on clean, through a dictaphone with Tommy being replaced by some guy that has a massive effects board and that doesn't appear too comfortable with his voice hence the hiding behind effects.

Still a 6 out of 10 though just cause the backing band are very tight.