Band: Project 86
Album Title: Rival Factions
Label: Tooth and Nail
Release Date: 6/19/07
Review by: Nate
- 1. Evil (A Chorus Of Resistance)
2. Put Your Lips To The TV
3. The Forces Of Radio Have Dropped A Viper Into The Rhythm Section
4. Molotov
5. Slaves To Liberty
6. Pull Me Closer, Violent Dancer
7. Illuminate
8. The Sanctuary Hum
9. Caveman Jam
10. Normandy
Summary of me:
First of all, this is my first review on IVM so please bear with my opinions. I have been listening to Christian music for years and years… and it means crap when it comes to review. I just wanted to say this meaning that my opinions are going to be different than yours, and just because I have listened to tons of music won’t change that at all. BUT, I do hope that I can reach your opinions as well as I can. So, please bear with me as I try to write the best reviews possible. Would love feedback too.
Rating:
Summary:
Project 86 has released many strange, yet gripping music in the past decade. Past albums like Drawing Back Lines included tracks of Andrew’s yelling mixed with long streaks of random screaming noises. When I first listened to those tracks, I thought to myself, “How is this possibly, music?” But after listening to those tracks over and over I found myself becoming more accustom to them.
Rival Factions starts off with the very catchy Evil (A Chorus Of Resistance), which speaks lyrically about greed and how even heroes can struggle with it. This first song is a very strong track to base the type of music you will be listening to for the next 10 songs. Lots of synthesized guitar rifts, background synths, random piano parts, and strong chorus’. It seems to me that much of the album was produced from three instruments and a lot of computer synth effects (catch my hint of sarcasm…). The synths and other effects in the album are all pretty much random, but fit decently as they play constantly the in the background of most the tracks. [But there are songs that cause you to wonder if your listening to a Showbread CD, thanks to those oh so nifty synths/ techno noises.]
Rival Factions brings in many aspects from their older albums (as stated before). One of which is Andrew’s signature scream/yell. Tracks like The Forces Of Radio Have Dropped A Viper Into The Rhythm Section exploits that ever-so trademark yell throughout the track. Actually make that a scream. Andrew proves that he still has the guts and voice to scream and sing all throughout same album.
The album also features tracks with slow but gripping beats of Andrew’s also trademark “double-layered” chorus voice. Songs like Pull Me Closer, Violent Dancer will sound similar to My Will Be A Dead Man (except Pull Me Closer will have more synths covering the dead air that seems to lie in My Will Be A Dead Man). Hopefully that will give you an idea of the “slow but gripping beats” that I am talking about.
As far as “catchiness” goes. It varies throughout the album (as well as the persons tastes). You’ll find many catchy chorus’ such as in the great, but awfully short Illuminate. One of the my favorite tracks is Molotov, which not only has a very catch chorus, but it seems to help take a breather from all the hard rifts and screams. This happens in a few other tracks as well such as Normandy, which takes a slow beat to finish off the CD.
I believe Project 86 has done it again. Great music, but hidden at first. The only reason I say this is because some may listen to the first few tracks and want to generalize the whole album by them. Although that may or may not be a healthy way to look at the CD, I still believe the album will take a few listens through to have any kind of opinion of the music and lyrics.
And on the other side of it, you may gain a liking to it on the first round of listening, but I doubt it. Because that brings us to the largest problem of the album. Its short. Super short. Those ten tracks go by so fast that I find myself almost feeling like I am listening the the same track over and over again. Sadly, I guess the answer to that problem would be to turn off my “Repeat Album” button. Either way, you’ll find yourself wanting more songs, and you wont get them. Which is a sad way to release an album with such heart thumping music.
Unfortunately, the album will take myself and others lots of time, to give a true and full review on the CD. Even after listening through the CD many many times, I feel I don’t truly know the album in its entirety. What I do know is that musically this album differs from most albums that ever reach the shelves. So if you want a break from the cliché of hard music, this may be your alternative. Just cram all of Project 86’s old music into a blender with a tiny pinch of musical synthesized rifts, and press “BLEND”. Then you could have the new Rival Factions. Who knows? Let me know if you try it and how it turns out…