CoC : Tenet - Sovereign : Review

Tenet - _Sovereign_
(Century Media, 2009)
by: Jackie Smit (7 out of 10)

More than a decade in the making and originally conceived as a death metal side-project, Jed Simon's Tenet is bound to enjoy its fair share of attention if for no other reason than its reuniting three quarters of the musical troupe formerly known as Strapping Young Lad. Don't go creaming yourself at the prospect of an industrial metal hurricane of _City_-like proportions just yet though. It may have taken an inordinate amount of time to take shape, but Tenet's sound has a lot more in common with thrash both old and new. Frills are kept to a minimum; in fact the only "quirk" that's been indulged here is the hiring of one Steve "Zetro" Souza, himself on the comeback trial after being unceremoniously booted from Exodus. Here his distinctive style meshes well with the din kicked up by the rest of the band, even if _Sovereign_'s only truly remarkable moment is captured on the moody "Going Down". The rest is like Hollywood popcorn fodder -- heavy on cheap thrills, slack on substance. Still, there's a time and a place for that too, and even if it flounders spectacularly in measuring up to any of its members' alma maters, it hella entertaining all the same.

Contact: http://www.myspace.com/tenetforce

(article published 8/9/2009)