CoC : Death & Taxe$ - theenigmathatisman : Review

Death & Taxe$ - _theenigmathatisman_
(Independent, 2001)
by: Brian Meloon (7 out of 10)

Death & Taxe$ hail from Los Angeles, CA, and play a unique brand of jazz, thrash and melodic hard rock. The only comparable band that I can think of is Damn the Machine, who they sound like once or twice during the 70 minutes of this CD. But for the most part, they do a good job of finding a diverse set of unique sounds to fill the CD. The guitar ranges from heavy crunch to light 'n' jangy to mellow acoustic and back again. The tempos range from fast (thrash speed) to slow (ambient speed), with just about every tempo in between. Although some of their experiments are less than successful ("Bottomless Hippopotamus"), there's enough good music to make this a worthwhile offering. Unfortunately, there aren't any really standout tracks, as there were on their debut, _Paradigms for a New Quarter_ (1996). There are also fewer straight-ahead thrash tracks on this album, and more of a lighter/mellower sound overall. I'd recommend this for those into rock/jazz fusion, and those who like a wide variety of musical styles. Most of the songs are available at their MP3.com site, so if they sound like something you might like, check that out. I'd suggest "Diet of Worms" and "Instrumental With Words" as good choices to get acquainted with their style.

Contact: http://home.earthlink.net/~dntman/

(article published 12/8/2001)