THE PHILIPPINES' PREMIERE ROCK BAND DRAW ENERGY FROM POLITICS AND TRANSLATE IT TO GREAT MUSIC.

Arguably the best band in the country, Wolfgang comes back to rock the local rock scene with Black Mantra. For the large part, the Black Mantra contains political overtones and reference due to the fact that was recorded midway into the former President Estrada's impeachment trial. Through songs like "No Falter", "A Revolution Now" and "Undertow", Wolfgang released its primeval angst against the deposed president and his cohorts in a very grand but discrete manner. The song that clinched the political status of the album however is the album's first track - "Judas Noose". With Basti Artadi singing "traitor/ betrayer/ you could have won love but you sold it a long time ago", the band shows its exceptional nationalism and social awareness.

Mike Velarde, the former President's spiritual adviser wasn't spared from the lashing that Wolfgang was about to deal. In "Heaven Spent", a song about false prophets taking advantage of gullible and optimistic, there was a mention of "giving handkerchiefs a plentiful" which is Mike Velarde's ultimate business... ehe religious paraphernalia. "Trenta" also deals with false prophets but looks into the situation in a much more remorseful perspective.

On the flipside of things, Black Mantra also has personal songs about love and betrayal ("Bow Unto Thee"), drug abuse ("Meckam") and self-pity with a dab of self-empowerment ("Bleed One Way"). "Idlip" the album's softest and most soothing track tackles the issue of death on a constrained manner and has Artadi singing like the way in the Brain Salad single "Bulong Mo Sa Dilim".

What was really disappointing in the album was the type of jewel case used. It was your ordinary run-of-the-mill cd case with a black strip on the side. You don't really expect a band who won the 1999 Rock Award for Best Album Packaging to settle for this. But then again, Black Mantra was sold for only 250. I could go on and on and draw parallelisms to Imago's similarly priced but more lavishly intricate jewel case or Greyhoundz's slightly more pricey Serve in Silence packaging rip-off. But I won't... =) Music is what's important and Black Mantra stood its ground in that category.

The album is pretty solid, and even if it was a big departure from their 1999 release Serve in Silence, the Black Mantra still sounded well enough for me to heed it's call.

notable tracks: No Falter, Judas Noose

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WELL SPREAD OUT AND WELL BALANCED, IT'S A SHAME APC WAS ONLY A SIDE PROJECT.

When Tool's Maynard James Keenan does a project it's definitely sure to be two things; it would be ground-breaking and uniquely exceptional. And Mer de Noms was just that.

Employing more melodic sensibilities to his music, MJK brings his flawless singing and lays it out on pitch perfect tunes set up by Billy Hordewel, Paz Lechantin, Josh Freese and Troy Van Leeuwen. It was probably the best album for the year 2000 and the best songs of that year also came from this album. Ten out of the twelve tracks in the cd made it to my year-end list with eight songs (3 Libras-#1, Magdalena-#2, The Hollow-#4, Judith #5, Orestes-#6, Sleeping Beauty-#7, Rose - #9 and Thinking of You-#10) making it to the top ten.

The material is really cutting edge and is well spread out through the different genre of rock. The lyrics are all allusions to various bodies of written works. "Judith" the album first single is a furious assault on organized religion and those who are so dependent to it. "3 Libras" may be interpreted as a love song, but a deeper inspection of the lyrics would establish its connection to the story of Icarus. A slow haunting melody compliments Maynard's singing in "Orestes" an ode to the Greek Mythological character.

There is no way that you wouldn't like this album. I have enough confidence to say that this is the best album that I've ever put my hands on.

notable tracks: Judith, 3 Libras, The Hollow, Orestes

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PEORIA-BRED BAND PUMPS THE LETHAL DOSAGE INTO YOUR SYSTEM.

If you still listen to the radio, you were probably hit by Mudvayne's second release off the album L.D. 50, "Death Blooms". The song touches on the thoughts of suicide complete with graphic and philosophic bases as the song progresses. The amazing range and versatility of vocalist Kud's (Chad Gray) voice makes him one of the elite vocalists of the pseudo-metal genre. Personally, i really couldn't get over the lines "I just want to run/ fly kite wrestle jump and play/ swim through waves that crash to shore/ memories in me/ cocooned in misery". It talks of the fear of growing up which most of us are certainly wary of.

Their breakthrough single Dig's video (excerpts) is included in the bonus VCD that comes with the album. Dig, the first release is one of the most pleasant sounding mish mash of metal mayhem in Lethal Dosage 50. With other songs like "Nothing to Gein", "-1", "Prod" and "Severed", Mudvayne really pumps the toxin to your system, concocting a lethal dose of the darkest and disturbing songs (and not to mention, videos!) ever.

notable tracks: Dig, Death Blooms

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SIMPLE RIFFS + BAD LYRICS = JOLOG EAR CANDY

The mere fact that I am reviewing this album may surprise some people, but I chose to review this so that I won't be labelled closed-minded person. I gave the music a chance, and it didn't pass my standards to say the least.

Slapshock's music is an insult to human intelligence. The music is really simple set up on a grand stage of special effects and exemplary sound engineering. The sound is so processed you'll hardly notice it when you hear it live.

"Shezzo Wicked", the album's first single has noteworthy lyrics but doesn't quite get off from the nice start. Mindless shouting lend the song a pretentious air of mimicry to other harder edged bands. I am not a critic of the 'clean-to-scream' (disharmony, 2001) approach, but the way Jamir Garcia executes it just makes you want to cover your ears.

Slapshock hardly shown any sign of progression. They had the same nonsense lyrics and catchy choruses that don't really mean anything when taken word for word. Save for the remix of Sick Curtain were they explored new territories in electronica, Slapshock's music was at stagnant and bland as it could get.

And yeah, it doesn't help that Headtrip is being sold for a hefty price of P455 - five pesos more than albums of foreign acts! It is really ridiculous since Slapshock's fan base are those from the jolog "masses" (not to be taken as a social stratum) that actually opt to buy their pirated cd's. Slapshock is probably the hardest hit band when it comes to piracy and they better wake up and get their pretentious asses off their make-shift throne because they are not as good as they think they are.

released material: Shezzo Wicked, Push Me, Purple, Get Away

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INCUBUS PROGRESSES INTO A LIGHTER SOUND.

It was very tough to review this album. Although most of us Incubus fans really preferred the band when they were still pretty loud, I had to take Morning View on its own and without any influence from any past Incubus album. On itself, Morning View holds it ground.

Some slightly heavy tracks and a lot of easy listening cuts... That's the main composition of the band's fifth album. The albums first two releases are among the standout tracks in the cd. "Wish You Were Here" and "Nice to Know You" both had crystal clear riffs coupled with sensibilities commonly found with alternative bands.

Incubus still has that signature diversity. You would never mistake one song for another. From really loud scorching rockers like "Circles" and "Blood on the Ground", to the very slow and easy "Mexico". The track "Are you In?" may become a show band staple if it ever gets released. After seven years of loathing in the heavy rock/alternative territory, Incubus seems to be straying to the school of pop rock. Personally, I don't like it. But maybe it's just a phase to rediscover themselves. But music wise, I think Morning View is just as light and mellow as Incubus could (or should) ever muster and afford to do. One more step forward and they're not far from being just another boy band... Let's just hope that they sound like they did in S.C.I.E.N.C.E. in their next album.

released material: Wish You Were Here, Nice to Know You

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WOLFGANG AND RAZORBACK HYBRID SPAWN GREAT SINGLES AND CREATES A SALAD OF THE MUSIC GREATS AROUND.

I first heard of Brain Salad 3 years ago when Basti mentioned it when he won as Vocalist of the Year on NU107's 1999 rendition of the Rock Awards. It had always intrigued me how a combination of Wolfgang and Razorback would sound like.

Two years have past, save for Acoustica, Wolfgang and Razorback were relatively quiet. We've changed presidents and I've graduated from high school but still, the Brain Salad album was still not out. I had the chance to see Wolfgang perform during those times, they were busy plugging for Black Mantra. Black Mantra came on short notice but I saw the two albums side by side when I went to a record bar! I immediately got myself a copy of both albums and listened to what the Black Mantra and Brain Salad album had to offer.

Brain Salad isn't Razoback's heaviness multiplied by Wolfgang's amazing lyric work raised to the nth power. The songs in the album are more melodic and are packaged with a tinge of everything - world music, jazz, blues and even a slight hint of reggae. "Concept Human", a song about technology being moreof a bane than a boon, is an excellent choice for the first track. It has quick piano-driven pace that ironically ends in a short sigh of relief for Basti Artadi. "Inches" on the otherhand - a personal favorite, tackles man's yearning for achievement and his anxieties during times of unproductivity. These two relatively upbeat tracks are complimented by the soothing deliveries of "Bulong mo sa Dilim" which is incidentally the album's first single and "Island Under Siege" where Artadi is joined by Marnie Arcilla.

Brain Salad could stand on its own merits. You could forget the fact that they were done by the members of the two greatest bands in Philippine History and a lot of equally-abled artists had a hand on this project. At the end of the day, Brain Salad is nothing but good music.

released material: Bulong Mo sa Dilim, Concept Human, Inches

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