Rating: 7.7

Country: Indonesia

Release Date: 2006

Record Label: Malicious Intent

Track list:
1. Rebuild-Reform-Reinstall
2. Moz
3. Dissociation of Personality [mp3]
4. Artificial Intelligence
5. Nervousness
6. Popped Off the Hook
7. Natural
8. Pleasure Under Pressure [mp3]
9. Full of Cripple
10. Psychoanalysis Therapy of Sybil Isabel Dorsett
11. Twisted History
12. Unexplored Mind Discontent
13. Felo de Se
14. Experimental Thoughts are Shocker Therapy  

Band Website: Cranial Incisored

Cranial Incisored - Rebuild: The Unfinished Interpretation of Irrational Behaviour

Halim Budiono - Guitar
Didiet - Vocals
Mal - Bass
Fads - Drums

There are a multitude of ways in which music can be technical. Leading Indonesian brutality merchants Cranial Incisored explore the facets of riff fragmentation, rhythmic discontinuity and atonality, all within a matrix that feels very spontaneous and totally unorthodox. There are indeed strong parallels with early Cephalic Carnage (complete with grooves and jazz interludes ranging from sunny to morose), but there is something else too...  

Underneath all the labyrinthine arrangements, chopped into short tracks, there is the shadowy presence of a primitive Immolation spewing venom into the melting pot. The artifical harmonics, the murky rawness fused to scything precision, the rumbling darkness, heaving chords and chromatic expressiveness are all there. The vocals add further texture by being not quite what would be expected. There are phantom growls, squeals and barks supporting the main vocal style that is a harsh throaty rasp.  

Even for those listeners that prefer something far easier to latch onto, the prospect of hearing Cephalic Carnage conjoined with Immolation undercurrents and overtones could be too mouth-watering to resist. However, this album was never meant to please the masses. No matter how tight the performance, many will regard this as messy because it tries too hard to be unpredictable for the sake of it. It is clear though, that when the band make a stride towards accessibility (e.g. the Cannibal Corpse stained "Twisted History" or the math metal chugging of the final track), they lose their worth. Personally, I would prefer something more tangible and far less slippery but I wholeheartedly recommend that Cranial Incisored continue their experimental journey no matter what anyone says about them. They are not pretentious, they are outlandish.

May 29th, 2007