5x****
For an emo (scremo?) (scream-o?) album I have been surprised by how much this album has grown on me after hearing a couple dozen times. The album begins with a creepy fill like something out Akira, and for what "Arcarsenal"**** lacks in musicality, it makes up with spewing ferocity and one grating chord. "Pattern Against User" is just the opposite, with no traits to distinguish it from most other radio-emo songs. "One Armed Scissor"**** is the only song I ever heard on the radio, has a strangely catchy chorus, though I have no idea what a 'sad transmission from a one-armed scissor'is. "Sleepwalk Capsules" has verses closer to the older emo than most of the songs. Most of the verses of "Invalid Litter Department" are spoken with some typically strange imagery, but the choruses are repetitive and not that interesting. "Mannequin Republic"**** is better, building on the pounding intensity of the opening riff, though it's kind of a prototypical sound for the album. "Enfilade" has an immediately memorable chorus, something about a 'freight train coming', but it takes too long to get going, and the song doesn't seem tied together too well. "Rolodex Propaganda" has some of the stranger parts on the album, such as Omar singing 'manuscript replica' in this mock-operatic voice, countered with Jim Ward screaming 'c-c-c-cut it' - whatever all that means. "Quarantined"**** returns to straightforward emo structure, but with a particularly guitar-heavy chorus. "Cosmonaut"**** is again very straightforward, but in this case that's not a bad thing when it rocks so convincingly, and with interesting phased guitar parts in the choruses. "Non-Zero Possibility" ends the album, sounding very close to the part in Akira when some giant toys come alive, though the chorus is much less interesting.
For an emo (scremo?) (scream-o?) album I have been surprised by how much this album has grown on me after hearing a couple dozen times. The album begins with a creepy fill like something out Akira, and for what "Arcarsenal"**** lacks in musicality, it makes up with spewing ferocity and one grating chord. "Pattern Against User" is just the opposite, with no traits to distinguish it from most other radio-emo songs. "One Armed Scissor"**** is the only song I ever heard on the radio, has a strangely catchy chorus, though I have no idea what a 'sad transmission from a one-armed scissor'is. "Sleepwalk Capsules" has verses closer to the older emo than most of the songs. Most of the verses of "Invalid Litter Department" are spoken with some typically strange imagery, but the choruses are repetitive and not that interesting. "Mannequin Republic"**** is better, building on the pounding intensity of the opening riff, though it's kind of a prototypical sound for the album. "Enfilade" has an immediately memorable chorus, something about a 'freight train coming', but it takes too long to get going, and the song doesn't seem tied together too well. "Rolodex Propaganda" has some of the stranger parts on the album, such as Omar singing 'manuscript replica' in this mock-operatic voice, countered with Jim Ward screaming 'c-c-c-cut it' - whatever all that means. "Quarantined"**** returns to straightforward emo structure, but with a particularly guitar-heavy chorus. "Cosmonaut"**** is again very straightforward, but in this case that's not a bad thing when it rocks so convincingly, and with interesting phased guitar parts in the choruses. "Non-Zero Possibility" ends the album, sounding very close to the part in Akira when some giant toys come alive, though the chorus is much less interesting.
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