01 Aug 2008 // A review by CEOMong
I fell in love with the Cripple at the turn of the century, for the better part of a decade now I’ve been waiting for some new Onion, and mayen, does it taste good. Old-school industrial electro thrash metal feel. An album full of tweaky, almost subliminal, effects; subtle and molten all at the same time. An album that takes you on an epic journey, it demands, and deserves, many repeats, and as always, very very loud. A mix of passion, emotional release and technical craftiness result in this album being all I hoped for and more.

Track 1 – Atrium - sets the scene, with some crazy martial post-apocalyptic feel. String section and nerve-ending tweaky electronica shuffles into Track 2 – Rumour Mill - rolling out a very clean sounding, fast-paced track, solid boot-stomping headbanging riffs and powerful vocals.

Track 3 – Barefoot Over Nails – Eerie start, jammed full of sharp heavy dropping riff and tweaky gax plucks, excellent, groovy, spacey track. Track 4 – Division By Zero - slow starting, expectant open air rocks out into an epic whole body sway.

Track 5 - ‘Antigravity’ – a strong track with resounding double bass and massive headbanging riffs. Solid feedback effects. Secondary vocals give it some softness, like melting butter on a red-hot anvil.

Track 6 - ‘Nova (Stranger By Degrees)’ – a radio-friendly track with less hard out molten metal, without losing any power – very well balanced and juicy.

Track 7 – Nevermore - mainly instrumental, cool freaky sharp riffs. Bluesy in places, overall a kind of medieval feel to the track. Track 8 – Dead Again – nice fast pace, sinks into some soft gax and mellow drum beats, before rolling into some solid basslines and resounding vocals. Rounds out with some old-school feel Onion.

Track 9 – Nadir – a solid classic thrash track, packed full of energy like a whole factory full of overly-caffeinated oompa-loompas. Track 10 – Absolution – dentist drill and spacey undersea otherworldly effects, some string section and almost-choir build-ups, another instrumental track that demonstrates the bands versatility.

Track 11 – Exuviae - tricky vocals and picky quirky beats crank this final, 11.5 minute track right into your melon. In the first minute I’m sold, and then it really turns up the heat, getting into some solid headbanging mosh material. Soft gooey bits in the middle turn rapidly back into solid quirky riffs that really get the old body moving. Would be truly epic experiencing this live and especially so with a head full of chemicals …

From the stratosphere,
CEOMong

Cripple Mr Onion originated in Christchurch, in the South Island of New Zealand, and produce a rich landscape of intelligent yet powerful music, which has been described as spellbindingly beautiful one moment and violently cataclysmic the next.

The diverse progeny CMO spits forth to their evergrowing and devoted live following are charged with primal, tribal beats, haunting harmonies and expansive atmospheric textures - each song becomes individual as a living entity with it's own unique qualities, evolving organically to often epic proportions.

CMO have destroyed stages with bands such as Motorhead, Shihad, Blindspott, 8 Foot Sativa, The D4 and Stylus - a live Cripple Mr Onion set in full force is a thing that must be experienced to be believed.

Visit the muzic.net.nz Profile for Cripple Mr Onion

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