Why yes, you are correct – I’m a terrible blogger. Essentially, I just can’t be bothered. I really should just record videos of myself on a random rant and upload those here, because by the time I yell what I think at whoever is listening, I can’t be assed repeating it in written word form. It’s kind of like “oh I feel better now, oh wait… I was going to share that on my blog, not that small, now clearly distressed, child”. But in the spirit of pretending-to-be-busy-because-my-manager-can’t-see-my-computer-screen-and-what-she-doesn’t-know-won’t-hurt-her, I thought I’d better actually write something.
So in previous posts I have discussed the song “Smash the Control the Machine” by OTEP. In a nutshell – hated the song, was still vaguely looking forward to the album. So after hearing said album, I have to say that I wasn’t overly excited by it, but it wasn’t really bad. But I have to let go of OTEP as SEVAS TRA and move on. Unfortunately it’s hard because SEVAS TRA was so fucking good. After the dismal effort that I thought ASCENSION was, STCM was actually alright. Once I got over the fact that Otep Shamaya doesn’t sound nearly as evil as she did on SEVAS TRA (or even HOUSE OF SECRETS for that matter), or that Moke’s drumming let me down a little (lol because it wasn’t as good as SEVAS TRA), or that I knew half the lyrics from previous albums / spoken words / journal entries / twitter updates / etc / etc it was actually quite enjoyable. I didn’t feel like punching out the person sitting next to me on the train (like I did with ASCENSION) which was quite a relief because I wasn’t looking forward to explaining it to the cops. At times I felt like I was in that scene in A Clockwork Orange where he’s strapped down to the chair and made to watch horrible clips of violence to condition him against his evil ways. It’s hard to escape Otep’s intense opinions and while she has an effective way of bringing situations to people’s attention, I don’t particularly enjoy feeling like I’m being preached at. But at the same time, her delivery is quick, witty and biting, and the switch in musical direction suits Otep’s voice better. Evil J is a steady backbone as usual and Rob’s extracurricular activities have done wonders for his craft.
I want to be a little more energetic about this post, but the usual amount of obnoxiousness, spite and crassness I usually aim for is reserved for things that really boil my blood / get me hot, and this album is kind of like a hug from your senile grandparents – it’s nice because you love them, but you can’t be too impressed because they’re drooling on you. Part me of me really wants to love the new direction OTEP is going (kind of like how everyone wants to be friends with Regina George), but then I realize I don’t really like it so much (like Regina George is a stuck-up bitch).
Tags: Review