Random Album Review #8

Each week I am going to write a short (under 200 word) review for an album from my collection chosen at random by iTunes. You can expect anything from Slayer to Salmonella Dub to (Ravi) Shankar and that is all part of the fun. Enjoy.

Week 8: De Facto – Megaton Shotblast (2001)

Country: USA / Dub, Reggae, Psychedelic

 Nestled directly in between hardcore legends At The Drive- In and the wigged out stylings of The Mars Volta came De Facto. This quartet shares members of both bands (primarily Cedric Bixler-Zavala, Omar Rodriguez-Lopez, and Ikey Owens) but their sound is truly their own. Itchy guitars and Latin jazz are substituted for tripped out dub sounds. Indeed it is bass, keyboards, and sonic post-production that take the fore on this album. When vocals are used they are generally wordless (such as the live cut of ‘Cordova’) and blend into the musical soup like another instrument. Opening track ‘Manual Dexterity’ is a wonderful introduction into this alien world. ‘Fingertrap’, featuring an ear-piercing horn refrain, raises the stakes to scary heights. Megaton Shotblast might be very different from either ATDI or Mars Volta (while still retaining trace elements of them) but it is still an intriguing album; too weird for a summer party, too sunny for a gloomy room.

Rating: B-

For fans of: The Mad Professor, Bill Laswell, The Mars Volta