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P.M.T - Topping From Below review



Reviewer:
8.0

1 user:
9
Band: P.M.T
Album: Topping From Below
Release date: May 2006


01. Kinky Kamikaze
02. Born Again
03. Organic Freaks
04. Fake Plastic Sky
05. Heart Squared
06. Ameri Can/Ameri Can't
07. Now Watch This Drive
08. Borborygmosfear
09. Sataniko Mecaniko
10. Sic or Sinistra
11. Crucifaced
12. Sonic Sniper Decipher
13. Haemophonik
14. My Space

I don't know if many of you have heard of the Swiss band P.M.T. I hadn't before I was invited to watch them perform in Paris in September and I was pleased to discover this industrial/gothic/nu metal (or psychocore as they say) band, although it's clearly not what I'm used to listen to.
Still, what surprised me the most is that there weren't a lot of people in the venue that night. Surprising because the show was good and that P.M.T had already opened shows for Korn, Marylin Manson, Evanescence... Ok, not everyone may like those bands (I don't, except for the latter) but they're big bands. I was told after the show that unfortunately, the new album Topping From Below was not available in France yet and would be released here in November thus the lack of promotion for this early show. Now, it's time!

With this new album, the third, the band should hopefully take off as it's made of hit songs only. I mean, all of them, not just most of them. While this may not appeal to "true" metalheads, it pleases me a lot to be able to enjoy an album to the fullest just after one spin. Here, everything is catchy, very melodic, never too complicated, not very surprising but rather refreshing. Perhaps some songs sound similar in their purpose or structure but sill if you're interested, each of them should stick to your mind.
The production is very good and features those nice keyoard effects at times that prevent the music from sounding plain. Same thing for the bass and the other instruments, that we can clearly hear when needed.
If it wasn't for the teenager-friendly vocals/lyrics and the sexual/provoking turn they take at times (on Kinky Kamikaze for example), I would love it, although they do fit the music. As for the electronic beats - that can be best heard on a song like Fake Plastic Sky - I even came to enjoyed them, but of course aren't enough of them to call that band industrial/techno/electro which is a good thing for me.

To sum-up, what P.M.T did with Topping From Below may not be groundbreakingly great, though it is undeniably great. They succeeded in making me - a guy not particularly keen on this kind of metal - listen to this album many times and not only because I had to write this review; I really enjoyed it. Perhaps you'll enjoy it too, that is provided you're into melodic stuff and not afraid of something that could be considered "mainstream", otherwise I highly doubt you will be converted.


Rating breakdown
Performance: 7
Songwriting: 7
Originality: 7
Production: 9

Written by wrathchild | 08.11.2007




Comments

Comments: 1   Visited by: 3 users
09.11.2007 - 15:10
Pichelson

I´ve seen them in Berlin at the Columbia Hall on August 29 2005. They were the supportband of KoЯn. It was an awesome gig. They play like hell!!!
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