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A enjoyable EP that is faulted by off key falsettos and muffled audio.-
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| Madman: Force of Sound (2011 Reissue) |
Heavy Metal, Speed Metal
Self-released / War Records (2011)
2010 / June 1st, 2011
Initial Pressing:
- Soldiers of the Damned - 3:34
- Dr. Thrasher - 3:04
- Toxic Metal - 3:47
- As He Strikes!! - 3:10
- Force of Sound - 4:50
2011 Reissue:
- Born a Witch (Live) - 5:50
- Haunt the Nite (Live) - 5:24
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| Links |
| Review Information |
Release length: 30:35
Review posted on July 31st, 2011
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| | Initial Pressing: 7/10 |
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| 2011 Reissue: 7/10 |
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| Discography |
Discography covers all information available up to day of review and is updated if future albums are reviewed. |
| EP(s): |
Force of Sound (2011) • Silent Nite/Deadly Nite (2010)
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| Review |
Madman is a Heavy/Thrash Metal act that hails from Ontario, Canada that formed back in 2009. Force of Sound is the first official release from the group, being issued roughly one year after coming together, and it's clear the group has some strong roots in the early Metal sound. Madman issued this debut offering themselves back in 2010, but it has eventually been made available once more through War Productions in a strict limited edition cassette pressing of three hundred tapes. But is worship to the early Metal days the strongest thing Madman offers the listener, or does this effort have more to it?
Obviously, the release's overall production quality is going to be a little raw. This independent recording has a bit of a modern sound to it, but everything sounds muffled and a bit further in the background, which is suitable for an early recording put to cassette, though still has a digital polish to it. The guitars sound pretty good and heavy enough for an early Thrash Metal release, being a bit heavier thanks to the muffled quality, and the bass is present, though not really too dominant because of that quality, feeling a little further in the mix then it should be. The drums have a bit too much of a thud all around, which isn't that bad for this release, but again another issue from the overall sound. The cymbols crash, but just not as strongly as they could have been. This of course can leave dead air during the solos. Finally, the vocals are something that are a tread between good and bad, having a cleaner approach that may or may not have a bit of a rhasp, and it's not bad with the slight echo added, but the falsettos can be off key with the rest of the music sometimes. But, when the band really has energy going, like with "Toxic Metal", none of this matters and you find yourself going head first into some solid Thrash and Heavy Metal.
Force of Sound starts with an introduction on "Soldiers of the Darkness" that is a little long winded, sounding like a record starting that has some wind sound effects on it that are legitimately haunting for what they are, but they are the clearest aspect of the recording, which is a bit disheartening when the slower paced music kicks the song off right. However, this approach does use the duller quality to continue with the haunting vibe the introductory segment set up, and the song builds up well into a mid-tempo song of Heavy Metal aggression with some decent random falsettos that have some of their faults hidden by the richer music being played. Not many tracks really go fast, which isn't too bad considering this and other songs on here are good, but the problem is that the solo on this song does come off pretty hollow thanks to the guitar leaving everything up to the bass and drums, which are just not good enough to fill the gap, leaving the music behind the guitars to sound a bit too hollow, and thanks to the quality, comes off rather clean and sterilized, losing some of the edge and richness this track actually has.
Of all the songs on the recording, it's "Toxic Metal" that is easily the catchiest of them all, and just all around done right for the audio quality here. The atmosphere of the track is dark and haunting like "Soldiers of the Darkness", but the performance itself is very energetic for it's mid-tempo pace that sometimes goes to a little faster speed, especially for the guitar solo that nicely enriches the sound and kills off any empty sounding music in the background. The only problem here is that the flaws of the falsettos can be felt during the build to that solo, and they can get a little annoying during the slow bass-heavy passage. "Force of Sound", however, is another stronger track and as equally catchy, but is more driven by aggression and faster material. There's also a stronger focus on a falsettos here, but there's more energy behind them and a rhaspier performance that could compare the manner of performance from a more traditional Judas Priest sound to a far more chaotic King Diamond sound. But, again the guitar solo sounds hollow for the most part, though the bass does pick up a little bit and fill the gap slightly during some parts, which in the end does work out well enough to keep it going without become too sterilized. Had the bass been podded up a bit more, this release would have greatly benefitted and felt a little more rich in comparison.
| 2011 Reissue: |
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For the band's 2011 reissue, War Productions picked up the album for release as a limited to 300 pressings cassette. The EP contains the initial five tracks, but also two bonus live tracks that have not been recorded in the studio yet. The quality of these tracks are raw in the sense that they were recorded from somewhere in the venue and not the sound board, which again finds the music to be a bit hollow, and the only real complaint is the overall sound comes off a bit too high pitched, and perhaps it's not the best representation of the band's live abilities. But, this doesn't mean the songs are bad. "Born a Witch" is a strong slow-paced track that feels a little like the band wanted a ritualistic sound to it, but you can tell the song is actually meant to be bass-heavy, but with the way the audio is of the recording, it doesn't make a strong enough impact. However, it does shine through nicely during the guitar solo and almost dwarfs the guitar itself. Of course "Haunt the Nite" is a strong, energetic faster paced track that sounds great live, but at the same time would sound amazing if it were to be recorded properly in the studio, as well as features a guitar solo that is as solid as the one on "Toxic Metal". |
Overall, Force of Sound is pretty good for a debut album. The main issues here stem mostly from the audio quality of the recording, which poses problems given the one guitarist and bassist, leaving empty air that a rhythm guitarist could greatly fill, or just the proper distortion for the guitar during said solo. Aside that, the falsettos can be off key at times, and the harmonization with them and the music, as well as what sounds like some layering effects could really use some fine tuning. Madman clearly does still have some room to grow judging by this recording, but Force of Sound is still an enjoyable release worth checking out if you ever get the chance or come across a copy. Of course the additional live recordings of the 2011 reissue do make that version worth checking out, as well as it's limited run making it a little more collectable, but either version will do with since the live songs are a little too raw and may not be every listener's cup of tea for the quality.
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Digital review copy of this release provided by:
War Records.
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