Medusa - Survival Of The Fittest

Discussion in 'Music Reviews, Albums, Biography etc' started by Asmodeus, Mar 4, 2006.

  1. Asmodeus

    Asmodeus New Member

    I first heard of the band “Medusa” through a friend in college. Nice, catchy name. On further investigation, I found out that they were an alternative rock set, and being the “true” metal fan that I am, I dismissed them as losers. Boy, was I wrong then. The next day I find myself with their debut EP (dunno whether it’s an album) titled “Survival Of The Fittest”…

    First up, the cover art. Pretty well done, it’s got a very “stony” look to it. A rather simple sleeve with caricature shadows of the band members, the song titles and no lyrics. I liked the graphics used though, for it brings out the edginess of the band.

    I pop in the CD, and am greeted with lovely melodic keyboards and distorted guitars for “Drip”. The build up to the chorus is awesome, and it sends shivers down my spine. The lyrics, well, they really don’t make sense. (I asked a friend later about this, and he says, they weren’t supposed to). Pretty decent soloing here, which has the feel of Roger Waters, for some weird reason. Overall, this is a very impressive start to the album.

    The next offering is “Inert”. Very up-tempo riffs greet you after the lack-luster intro. The song shows off the vocalist’s abilities… He’s growling here (at least trying to). A hushed up interlude goes into the very heavy chorus, “No Glory”. I’ll be hearing that buzzing in my head for a long time, I feel. A good outro though, which sees the DJ coming into play.

    Now comes in my favorite track here… “Crop”. A real good intro with keyboards, hushed vocals, leading up to the all powerful, crushing riffs. I can just picturise the guitarist’s fingers moving all over the fret board to complete that one riff. The keyboard’s here are lovely, and for the first time in this album, I really like the vocalist. This song has that “sit in a corner and head-bang” feel to it, at least till the melody kicks with a lovely solo. Clocking in at 5:07, this is the longest track in this album, and towards the end, it does drag on a bit… but hey, it’s all-good.

    Drum intro leads us into “White Sign”, which changes its feel to a very PDV-ish riff. But here comes the difference – the keyboards, which again bring in a very “mature” feel to the song. The vocals, which come in at around the 1:45, make me want to sing along, but on other parts of this song, they’re again, nothing above the decent levels.

    Here we go with a Jai inspired drum intro, which leads us into an awesome intro for “Pseudo Weed”. The keyboards are again, superb, and they add a lovely feel to the track. The mixer shows his skills too, and the chorus is indeed heavy. I like it. A very fast track this one, until the mellow interlude kicks in. A very well done mood change, and we’re back to the mosher chorus. Hey, but that’s two songs here with similar outros…

    The last track on this album begins with Egyptian keyboards. “Import” proves to be the “different” track in this album. Maybe it’s because of the keyboards, or maybe it’s due to the emphasis on the vocals. A very trippy song, nonetheless. But again, that’s the third time they’re using a similar outro…

    So… overall impressions. I hate to admit it. I am impressed with the song structures (very tight) and the use of the guitars. But I’m more impressed with the drummer and the keyboards. This band has a certain feel to it, which I haven’t experienced before. Some stuff here has a lot of potential, which is obvious as Medusa have been doing the rounds of the big competitions, such as GIR and Campus Rock Idols. I’d like to hear more stuff from them…

    My Top Tracks: Crop, Drip

    Overall Rating: 6.5/10
     
  2. aceshigh_24

    aceshigh_24 New Member

    nice review man...
    and isnt it Pseudo (S) Weep?:think:
     
  3. Asmodeus

    Asmodeus New Member

    Hmm../. that's what I was thinking too...
    But then, I had a chat with a friend, who happens to be the band mates' close friend... he's even mentioned on their credits page... he tells me the song's name is Pseudo Weed...
     

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