CoC : Demimonde - Mutant Star : Review

Demimonde - _Mutant Star_
(Epidemie Records, 2000)
by: Pedro Azevedo (6 out of 10)

When the promotional material states that the band plays "kozmik postmodern art metal", you know you are probably in for a challenge. Demimonde currently consists of nine(!) elements, including a number of programmers. And yes, Demimonde do try to cram as much as possible into their suitcase and don't seem to mind having to collectively sit on top of it to be able to close it afterwards. Whether the locks are going to stay in place or whether the contents of their suitcase will get catapulted all over the place therefore becomes the all-important question. As far as I'm concerned, most of the time it all seems to be on the verge of snapping, but overall _Mutant Star_ does turn out to be a reasonably interesting and challenging listen. I can hardly believe this is the same band whose demo tape I reviewed years ago [CoC #32], as they now mix blackened metal with Moonspell-type singing, female vocals, jazzy elements, electronic and oriental influences, and more. It really is hard to describe all that is to be found inside _Mutant Star_. Almost inevitably, several passages are less than fluid and some of the elements work less than ideally with the rest ("Absolute Word" being the prime example of that). If you think Solefald are boringly conventional, then this should be just great for you. Otherwise, you may still find this an interesting album, but the results the band achieves throughout _Mutant Star_ are rather irregular. Personally, the record fails to captivate me much; I find it challenging, and for a limited amount of time interesting, but generally not very enjoyable or entertaining.

Contact: http://www.webpark.cz/epidemie/

(article published 12/8/2001)

DEMOS
8/7/1998	P Azevedo	3	Demimonde - The Warrior's Poets