6 REVIEWS IN 140 CHARACTERS OR LESS

Since joining Twitter last week (follow us!) my brain has been systematically reprogrammed to process information only in pieces of 140 characters or less. After the jump, quickie haiku-like reviews of all the new music that’s arrived at the doorstep of the MS Mansion in succinct, Tweet form, plus MP3s! New releases from Mongoloid Village, Mechanism, Irepress, Stinking Lizaveta, Derek Sherinian and Cobalt.

Mongoloid Village – s/t EP [MySpace]
Stoney prog metal with brute force, bludgeoningly Melvins-esque riffs + Cave In atmospherics, all filtered through Deep Purple. Quality!
Mongoloid Village – “Pickled Punk”
(4 out of 5 horns)

Mechanism – Inspired Horrific [MySpace]
Meshuggah/SYL  played by dudes who love The Faceless and modern tech-death with plenty of variation and Sikth-style schizophrenia. Hoglan!
Mechanism – “Lobo”
(3.5 out of 5 horns)

Irepress – Sol Eye Sea [MySpace]
Overly ambitious ambient metal that goes nowhere and does so very slowly. Loose production and playing don’t help either.
(2 out of 5 horns)

Stinking Lizaveta – Sacrifice and Bliss [MySpace]
Heady but raw instrumental rawk that succeeds where the above fails. Experimental in all the right ways, too. Clutch on nasty shrooms.
Stinking Lizaveta – “A Man Without a Country”
(3 out of 5 horns)

Derek Sherinian – Molecular Heinosity [MySpace]
Sounds just like Falling Into Infinity-era Dream Theater minus the vocals. Funny how that works. Good enough but unspectacular on the whole.
Derek Sherinian – “Primal Eleven”
(2.5 out of 5 horns)

Cobalt – Gin [MySpace]
Experimental, often ambient but no less crushing black metal. Well-produced, too, from this Denver two-piece. No track names in liner notes.
Cobalt – Track 05
(3 out of 5 horns)