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The Number Twelve Looks Like You - Mongrel

Tuesday, 27 November 2007

Editor's rating

9.8

out of 10

Reviewed by:
Keith Carlson
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Tuesday, 27 November 2007
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Music Information

Track Listing:
01. Imagine Nation Express
02. El Pinata De La Muerte
03. Jay Walking Backwards
04. Grandfather
05. Alright, I Admit It...It Was A Whore House
06. Paper Weight Pigs
07. Sleeping With The Fishes, See?
08. Cradle In The Crater
09. The Weekly Wars
10. The Try (Thank You)

Artist: The Number Twelve Looks Like You
Title: Mongrel
Genre: Progressive Metal • Alternative
Release Date: 19 July 2007
Record Label: Eyeball Records
Format: Full-length
Country: United States of America
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The Number Twelve Looks Like You - Mongrel

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Editor review

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful


Overall rating (weighted)		9.8
Musicianship		10.0
Composition		10.0
Experimentation		9.0
Production		10.0
Value		10.0

While looking at the artwork to this album and listening to the first track, you can tell that The Number Twelve Looks Like You uses very different and unique techniques to get their art across. Though constantly dabbling in genre fusions the way this music is presented is more in the Alternative Rock genre than any other. If you would like to detail this as a 'progressive-alternative' category it would fit along side Genghis Tron, Circle Takes the Square, Tera Melos, etc. Whatever genre you want to tag this as its musicianship and fun factor is universal.

One signature Number 12 has stuck with through their whole career is the use of 2 singers. While on this album it's more prevalent yet lacks in some aspects as well. Both singers are very similar in style and sometime become lost and sounds like one singer with too much reverb. Though monotonous at times, elsewhere you can find a high dynamic with the two vocalists. This album even features overdubbing more than 2 vocal tracks. Singer Justin Pedrick's Death Metal growling accents are very broad and fuller sounding than pervious releases. Singer Jesse Korman's almost flamboyant vocal flare adds to the progressive elements of number 12 very well. Though not as masculinet and powerful as metal vocalist still manages to stay aggressive and on edge. MANY people feared this release would put clean singing in the foreground but it didn't. Clean singing is still used as tastefully placed accents.

All of Number Twelve's original styles on the pervious albums seem to be more polished and explored on Mongrel. Their metal techniques such as the crunchy galloping riffs and new drummer Jon Karel's super slick blast beats are fully flourished. Jon Karel is Number Twelve's best drummer. The guy is extremely well rounded and is what Number Twelve was lacking. Though Put On Your Rosy Red Glasses was awesome for its sloppy frantic drumming, this new drummer has taken to way higher and better ground compared to their debut release. What was good is now great in the drumming department on Mongrel.

Music isn't a competition or a personal vendetta but I feel the need to state the obvious. There's no possible way that guitarist Alex Pareja didn't hear Imogen's Puzzle pt.2 by Psyopus when he wrote the last and favorite track on the album "The Try (Thank You)". The Irony is that a lot of Psyopus haters like The Number Twelve and this album. "The Try" is filled with all sorts of Psyopus-esque tinkering and jazz wankering. Like I said, it's my favorite track on the album. Though I feel it's very complimenting to another band it still has its own Number 12 stamp and is extremely well written.

This band is a living oxymoron. This album doesn't seem to have any direction in a traditional sense of the word. Even singer Jesse stated in an MTV interview "We wanted this album to be just complete chaos, with no direction at all". To me it just seems to be progressively splattered all over the place. Yet the production is flawless. Casey Bates should be really proud! Every instrument is perfectly audible. This album is tight, clean and flows amazingly; controlled chaos if you will. It constantly (almost randomly) transitions in and out of genres effortlessly. Lead Guitarist and band mastermind Alex Pareja makes his music sound so easy. So easy it sounds natural and palatable to a lot of different people. I grantee this band and this album will be mimicked to death in the near future but none of it will be as good and catchy as the original.

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