Minus The Herd Review

Release Date: Jun 5, 2007
Label: Abacus
Genres: Death Metal/Black Metal, Heavy Metal
Number Of Tracks: 10
This is definately a record that needs to be listened to over and over to understand the complexity and the musicianship of the band.

Sound:	7
Lyrics:	7.5
Impression:	8
Overall rating:	7.5
Users rating:	8.5
Comments:	11

overall: 6.3

Reviewed by: forresterc, on may 06, 2009

Sound: First review on Ultimate-guitar. Yay. I've come to offer a bit more musical insight then a perfect 10 because I like a band or a 1 because I hate them... So here we go.

This is my first Ion Dissonance Album. Overall the album is inlayed with many time signatures, 4 beat guitar chugs, no solos, hardcore screaming, and more 4 beat guitar chugs. If your a hardcore mathmetal fan you'd probably enjoy the album. My first criticism toward the album is that I felt a massive overuse of the incredibly low 7 string guitar chug. At some parts it's pretty cool, but after listening through the album it gets pretty repetitive. Honestly I find the whole middle half of the album quite boring.

A friend of mine criticized the lack of melody on the album, but personally that's what impressed me the most. The band got together and clearly avoided any musical resolve on purpose. If you like melodic metal, avoid this band. Notable tracks: The Surge, Scorn Haven, Void of Conscience, and Tarnished Trepidation. // 6

Lyrics and Singing: Lyrics consist of your normal hardcore/metal stuff. Most of the songs are introspective, philosophic thoughts, often from a serial killer perspective. Vocabulary of the songs is not lacking though. Throughout the album holds a common theme I it's lyrics which help unifies the album. This, along with the similarity of the songs tracks, creates a decent album. There is a definite goal throughout the album, which I appreciate; this is opposed to some bands that just list up an album full of unrelated singles, which I find quite inartistic.

Singer does a good job. He often moves in and out of speaking and screaming the lyrics. I find it quite interested and I enjoy it. It adds to the diversity of the album. Of course death metal fans might not find his voice aesthetically pleasing, but to my ear the diversity proves a positive addition to the album. // 6

Impression: I don't own any other albums from this band, but from what I hear from others they toned down their "chaos" from their last albums.

Originally The album really didn't impress me. I thought it was boring and only had one or two good tracks. For some reason though, I found myself continually popping it into the CD player and listening to all 30 or so odd minutes of the album. I guess over time the album grew on me as a whole. I would recommend buying this, or at least downloading the recommended tracks, if you enjoy Devil Wears Prada, Suicide Silence, WhiteChapel, and those like; but as a note, I'm not a fan of those bands, and I do enjoy this album. // 7

overall: 8.7

Reviewed by: hopespaul, on february 21, 2008

Sound: If you are into heavy metal and you haven't heard of Ion Dissonance yet, you have been missing out. They are one of the Canadian tech-metal wonders flooding the American scene lately (see Beneath the Massacre, Despised Icon). I will start off describing the band's overall sound fist. The unifying theme of Ion Dissonance is brutal tech-downs with piercing vocals. This record will leave listeners with either a big headache or feeling of satisfaction for understanding their complex time signatures and 7-string brutalness. This is definately a record that needs to be listened to over and over to understand the complexity and the musicianship of the band, except for the opening track, which should be an easy nut to crack for almost any fan of death metal, but full of emotion and raw energy that will satisfy a fan of hardcore. There are times when this record falls short, it builds up a lot of tension with off-timing but doesn't always resolve it with melody or correct timing leaving an unexperienced listener with a bitter taste in the ears. This might also be a good thing for people looking for discomfort, but at times you will find yourself skipping through certain tracks because they just don't offer enough resolution to all the chaos, unless you like that. // 8

Lyrics and Singing: Minus The Herd has been written for intense listening with the booklet along the side (or lyrics from the internet). Knowing or following the lyrics greatly enhances the listening experience. The lyrics are very dark, and the main themes are that of horror, self-actualization (that things aren't as good as we think), unleashing rage against women (very prominent in a lot of hardcore/metal). If Minus The Herd was a horror movie, it would not attract large audiences because of it's complex psychological dissonance instead of just plain gore (like in most death metal). Singer's skills are fairly decent, however at times he cuts off his thoughts at inapropriate times within a song, making the lyrical flow quite awkward. His voice sounds as good as it gets for tech metal (fairly easy to understand and follow). // 9

Impression: Do not listen to this as background music! This is not a bathroom magazine. You need to allow yourself some space in your mind before you try to listen to this unless you love migraine. Also, intermediate to advanced heavy metal listening skills are required. Minus The Herd is hard to compare to other tech metal albums simply because it creates a whole new listening experience. I would highly recomend this to any fan with good listening ability, and I can't stress this enough, because it will be frustrating to listen to if you have no idea what is going on. if I lost this CD (if my hard drive crashed) I would take my CD and put it on my new computer. If I have happened to lose my CD as well, to be completely honest, I would not buy this again. The reason why is that I have listened to it so many times I can't possibly get much more from this as I already picked up. However, it took quite some time for me to be completely comfortable with this record, and it will be the same for you, so pick this up (or download) and enjoy the brutality. // 9

Comments

[omarrodrigez]

Talented band, but the vocals were too hardcore-styled for my tastes. I'll stick with Meshuggah.

[metallica72487]

i have seen this band live and have heard there songs on myspace as well but i really could not get into them that much it seemed liked all the songs sounded the same like other hardcore bands

[choke383]

This is one great band. I didnt know this was coming :O im so happy!

[Gregray88]

i went to their myspace kinda excited cause it sounded good and got a good review... but i tohught they were terrible. i think it would be really easy to write a hardcore song like those ones.

[noahray]

not as good as their older efforts. number 6 on that Cd is killer though, can't remember the name

[deaththrashcore]

This album is awesome... some of it sounds the same at first but it takes a few good listens to really get as much as you can out of it. Ion Dissonance kicks ass.

[keepitwolfson]

ion dissonance is a wonderful however this cd isnt a good showcase of what they are about. this album is way different they tried to make a catchy cohesive album this time around.. for all the idoits who have lived under a rock and just heard of them listen to breathing is ilrelivent or solace.. and to the dumbasses who commented first ion is not a hardcore band far from it.. its called tech metal and they sound nothing like other "hardcore" bands and their songs are very complex hella tech and wierd time signatures

[troyponce]

\m/

[hopespaul]

keepitwolfson wrote:

ion dissonance is a wonderful however this cd isnt a good showcase of what they are about. this album is way different they tried to make a catchy cohesive album this time around.. for all the idoits who have lived under a rock and just heard of them listen to breathing is ilrelivent or solace.. and to the dumbasses who commented first ion is not a hardcore band far from it.. its called tech metal and they sound nothing like other "hardcore" bands and their songs are very complex hella tech and wierd time signatures

1. this cd is a great showcase what they're all about because it's their latest effort with the newest members of the band. anything previous is in the past and if you live in the past, well, you shouldn't criticize anything then.
2. if you think people are idiots for not having heard a canadian underground metal band that gives most people headaches, you are an imbecile.
3. if you think this cd is catchy, you're an imbecile
4. breathing is irrelevant is a good cd, but the vocals are way annoying compared to minus the herd (hint: thats why they got a new singer)
5. ion dissonance is more hardcore than they are metal, buddy. breakdowns are for hardcore, not metal. what's metal about ion is the brutal lyrics and 7-strings.
also, this forum is for exposing music to people, not dissing them, even though your attempts fall short of embarassing anyone, you only embrarassed yourself

[keepitwolfson]

im sorry sir but the only embarrassed person should be you your name is an allusion to hopesfall and anyone who would allude to such a terrible band obviously has bad musical tastes

1. just because the cd is the newest doesnt make it a showcase of what the bands about. they have 3 cds breathing is the most tech and grindish solace was similar this album is mainly breakdowns so if the majority of their discography is different how is this the best representation of ion?
2. okay you semi-right on that matter but theyve been around for awhile they arent despised or beneath who blew up overnight. if you know the underground scene well enough go out of your way to read and comment you should know they arent a hardcore band
3. this cd is catchy compared to solace and breathing, ****ing imbecile plus if you have ever spoken to any member or read/seen an interview they personally say they wrote differently to make a "catchy more cohesive album"
4.hint they got a new singer cause gab went to peruse other shit not cause he sucked Gab did backing vocals and helped write some of the lyrics on minus the heard
5. you dont know what hardcore is. hardcore bands terror, throwdown, comeback kid, figure four, until the end, remembering never thats hardcore does ion sound anything like those bands? also i said TECH METAL not just metal they are different and breakdowns are the only thing that might make someone with little music understanding mistake ion for a hardcore band

[hopespaul]

1. yeah it does because that's what the band is all about right now and they're in their freshest state of mind.
2. i haven't implied ion is a hardcore band, because they're not (they're obviously a tech-metal band, and tech is the keyword there, and i think we're both on the same page on that one)
3. kelly clarkson is catchy, ion dissonance is not (hence the word dissonance). we both know that, and we can leave that behind us for the sake of music in general. i really do not believe it is a subjective matter.
4. you must admit that you live in the past if you judge a band based on their previous work. the newest work is where the band's mentality is right now, and present matters more than the past (however, not as much as the future, and i'm really excited to see what's next in this great band's agenda.
5. i know what hardcore is. if you believe that throwdown is a hardcore band, that you are the dellusional one here. judging from your comments i'm pretty sure you have never been into the hardcore scene, and that's perfectly normal. however, for you not to recognize hardcore influence on ion is either ignorant or you know it but just don't want to admit it for the sake of argument. ion is by no means a hardcore band, and we both know that, so there's no need to argue about that.

p.s. hopesfall is a great band, they have done some serious work and they have been very influential in the hardcore/emocore scene. for you not to have respect for hopesfall is another indicator of you not knowing the hardcore scene. i can respect our differences in our tastes in music, but i can't tollerate criticism of decent bands by someone who doesn't even know about it. maybe you shouldn't be so quick to jump the gun man.

also, for personal advice, you should embrace progress and evolving instead of dissing it, because it's the future, and i certainly do not believe you want to live in the past. there are many bands that put out dissapointing follow-up albums (hopesfall being one of them), but ion is not one of those bands and they're only growing into something much larger than the lifelessness of 'breathing is irrelevant' into much more emotionally complex 'minus the herd' (i'm sure you're familiar with DEP evolution from infinity to where they are now).