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Mass Hypnosis - Sanctimonious review



Reviewer:
5.1

2 users:
4.5
Band: Mass Hypnosis
Album: Sanctimonious
Release date: October 2014


01. Psychoacustica
02. God Complex
03. Matrix Of Power
04. Address To The Nation
05. Trigger Terms
06. Inevitable Disaster
07. Message From The Advanced Intelligence
08. Refugees From The Promised Land
09. The Sting Of Consequence
10. Monotheist
11. Social Experiment
12. United State Of Coma
13. Codex Alimentarius
14. Novus Ordo Seclorum

People refuse to see the signs. People are blind to their doings, and we are laughed at when we try to warn you. The Illuminati are amongst us. WAKE UP! SHEEPLE!

---WARNING---

DO NOT READ
There are 651 words in this review.
6 + (5+1) = 6 + 6
3 + 3 = 6
6 + 6 + 6 = 666
THIS REVIEW IS ILLUMINATI CONFIRMED

---

What is it with industrial bands and their uncontrollable need to "educate" us? Don't get me wrong, I admire political engagement and content-heavy music. I grew up in a country directly involved in the tragic events and the warmongering of the beginning of this millennium, which Sanctimonious tries to draw attention to. Nevertheless, when you're a band whose logo is derived from the Illuminati symbol, and whose message is supported by caricatural music, you can't expect to be taken very seriously. Unfortunately caricatural doesn't always mean entertaining. Indeed, Mass Hypnosis say they play groove industrial metal, but I personally don't hear much groove in it, be it "groove" as in the actual genre or as in the quality you could attribute to a piece of catchy music.

Still, let's be fair to Mass Hypnosis for a second. Taking death metal and twisting its neck to make it follow a colder, more electronic approach, the Croatians achieved making their sound both industrial and brutal (enough). Without ever being memorable or ground-breaking, some riffs here and there are plenty enjoyable. Down-tuned and distorted guitars, blast-beats, a couple breakdowns, a few wubwubwubs, and some beepbeepbeeps here and there make the majority of the devices used by Mass Hypnosis to keep their listeners amused. Affixing very low guttural vocals on an instrumentation I find a little weak was the best thing to do, and balancing them with high-pitched screeches was even more intelligent. The final result makes me think of a Fear Factory meets Ministry collaboration, but stripped of the oomph and originality each of those bands displayed at least once in their careers.

It is always honourable to pay tribute to the bands that influenced you, but in no way is it tolerable to push the worship to the point you end up parodying the genre more than anything else. Indeed, Sanctimonious sounds more like a collection of samples taken from various American presidents' speeches with bits of music in between, rather than a well thought-out and structured full-length album. Not only do they use the same type of samples whom bands like KMFDM already used and overused, but I actually recognize the exact same bits. Yes. Including that one you're thinking of right now: the "New World Order" speech by George H. Bush, as well as that other one by Robert Oppenheimer quoting the Bhagavad Gita: "Now I am become death, the destroyer of worlds". I was very disappointed not to hear an excerpt of the "Axis Of Evil" speech by W. Bush, because then we'd have had the holy trinity of samples, the epitome of anti-American and alter-mondialist stereotypes. Obviously used as filler, the interludes and samples are too present in the forty minutes of Sanctimonious. When the release is not that dense, it doesn't need so many pauses and distractions, as it chops down the whole thing in little bits instead of creating a logical, natural flow that bonds the whole structure.

From the little I have heard of it, Mass Hypnosis used to play a deathcore-inspired kind of melodic death metal. I wouldn't be so arrogant as to ask them to go back to that sound, but I'd rather advise they drop the political pretext for a while and first focus on writing an actual industrial metal album. Then you can strap the anti-capitalism back onto it - without the plethora of samples. Or just start a blog.

If you're still interested, listen to Sanctimonious here. Wait! It's dangerous out there, don't forget your tinfoil hat.


Rating breakdown
Performance: 6
Songwriting: 4
Originality: 4
Production: 7

Written by Ilham | 26.11.2014




Comments

Comments: 10   Visited by: 118 users
26.11.2014 - 11:52
Frodd
Account deleted
I expected this to be a Sepultura-worship band. Looks like it's even worse.
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26.11.2014 - 12:03
Rating: 4
Ilham
Giant robot
Written by Guest on 26.11.2014 at 11:52

I expected this to be a Sepultura-worship band. Looks like it's even worse.

Hahaha. Yeah their name comes from Sepultura. The only thing that could be called similar are the vocals if you're really forcing the comparison and forgetting the fact they resemble Fear Factory's, otherwise nothing in common musically.
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26.11.2014 - 12:35
garmling
Account deleted
Well that band is pretty boring to say the least...weak production, too many fillers for my taste, boring samples (as you said), but that growl...oh my, old Pungent Stench immediate recall! Note to Martin Schirenc: if you want to revive your cult band the right way. this is the perfect guy to replace you as a new P.S. vocalist!
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26.11.2014 - 12:52
Rating: 4
Ilham
Giant robot
Written by Guest on 26.11.2014 at 12:35

Well that band is pretty boring to say the least...weak production, too many fillers for my taste, boring samples (as you said), but that growl...oh my, old Pungent Stench immediate recall! Note to Martin Schirenc: if you want to revive your cult band the right way. this is the perfect guy to replace you as a new P.S. vocalist!

Yeah we agree on all points it seems. But indeed, the vocalist is not bad at all, too bad the album doesn't allow him to shine. Actually it kinda does, since it's the best thing I found in it.
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26.11.2014 - 19:38
Lit.
Account deleted
Ilham, you are a good person. You have introduced me to a myriad of great bands, and I respect you for it.

But get the fuck off the Illuminati Jokes bandwagon. They stopped being funny a loooong time ago.
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26.11.2014 - 20:15
Rating: 4
Ilham
Giant robot
Written by Guest on 26.11.2014 at 19:38

Ilham, you are a good person. You have introduced me to a myriad of great bands, and I respect you for it.

But get the fuck off the Illuminati Jokes bandwagon. They stopped being funny a loooong time ago.

But but but it's because of the band. I don't care I'll forget the second line, you gave me compliments, and they sound sincere, I'm taking a screenshot, printing it, and framing it.
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26.11.2014 - 21:41
wrathchild

What I don't get is whether the album is from 2014 or 2012. It's been uploaded in full at their youtube in 2012: http://youtu.be/xR7UQO6RIvo?list=UUy2m02sR5Xc3aOqqdFqxFwg

From what I've heard so far the review is pretty accurate.
----
La belleza no reside en lo que puedas crear, sino en lo que eres capaz de transmitir
Beauty resides not in what you're able to create, but in what you're able to communicate


Txus, Mägo De Oz
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26.11.2014 - 22:00
Rating: 4
Ilham
Giant robot
Written by wrathchild on 26.11.2014 at 21:41

What I don't get is whether the album is from 2014 or 2012. It's been uploaded in full at their youtube in 2012: http://youtu.be/xR7UQO6RIvo?list=UUy2m02sR5Xc3aOqqdFqxFwg

From what I've heard so far the review is pretty accurate.

Yeah I've noticed that most of the songs on the album were already present in various EPs and singles, but every official page promotes this album as, well, a "new album". I wanted to point it out in the review, to underline the impression I had, that of zero cohesion between the different tracks, even if they tried to patch things up with samples. I guess I should have checked on youtube as well, because this proves they're not taking this seriously. It's not honest to remarket the same songs and try to sell them again a second time, without stating anywhere they were previously released.
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27.11.2014 - 03:32
M C Vice
ex-polydactyl
Written by Guest on 26.11.2014 at 19:38

But get the fuck off the Illuminati Jokes bandwagon. They stopped being funny a loooong time ago.

Maybe that's just what they want you to think.
----
"Another day, another Doug."
"I'll fight you on one condition. That you lower your nipples."
" 'Tis a lie! Thy backside is whole and ungobbled, thou ungrateful whelp!"
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27.11.2014 - 08:42
Diverge

^
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