IWRESTLEDABEARONCE – It’s All Happening
In 2009 people often wonder what is going to be next in the evolution of heavy music. While some continue to push the boundaries into extreme, some have come to flirt with adding elements of electro to attempt to blend a new creation which isn’t exactly all that new. In the case of Louisiana’s IWRESTLEDABEARONCE, they have taken the elements of Math Metal and Electro and combined them with FAITH NO MORE / GLASSJAW elements and given us their Century Media offering, It’s All Happening. When a band comes at you with a name such as IWRESTLEDABEARONCE, you probably don’t know what to expect until you actually give them a chance. While the choices for song titles have run their course at this point, IWABO have decided to get clever with their selection and while not being overly pompous and not overusing 4-syllable words, they display a clever element in titles.
The album starts off with the first single “You Ain’t No Family” which when followed by “White Water In The Morning” you are given the full ensemble of what to expect over the course of the 34-minute listen. Complete with country fried breakdowns (You Ain’t No Family), a duelling banjo intro (Danger In The Manger), and a casio sounding verse for “Tastes Like Kevn Bacon” complete with bear growl vocals from Krysta Cameron, your ears are taken on a sonic journey musically which is a welcome element to IWABO.
Unfortunately by the time you hit Tracks 6 and 8, “The Cat’s Pajamas” and “Black-Eyed Bush,” the journey seems to come to an abrupt hault and while variations of song tempo and structure always help a band show diversity, these 2 songs seem out of context as their song structure is already varied enough that these two songs miss the mark. While “Pazuzu For The Win” gets my nod for standout track and amazing musicianship, it’s some of the Mike Patton / Daryl Palumbo style phrasings of the vocals that actually detract me from this album. While I’m not sure if that is the intent from IWABO or if it was the influence of Producer Ross Robinson, it’s the downfall of the record to my ears. Yes, the musicianship displayed is above the norm, it’s some of the more ambient sections (tracks 6 and 8) and distant vocals that limit the reach of IWABO but I’m still sure they will have a great run for the scenesters who will think this is hip and completely original.
RATING: 6 / 10
LABEL: Century Media
WEBSITE: www.iwrestledabearonce.com
By Mark Thompson
(+17 rating, 7 votes)
This album is fun, but it’s too much of a joke. If they took their music a little more seriously and developed what they have, they could be a much better band.
I haven’t listened to the whole thing but I agree, it seems the music will always suffer when the musicians don’t take it very seriously.
LOL it seemed like a legit unbiased review, until the very last sentence
how did this manage a 6? do they blow you? or supply you with blow?
This album received a ‘2′ out of 10 horns in a recent review in the latest issue of Decible mag (July ‘09, pg 92).
people need to realize, you dont have to be as serious and lame as dimmu and cannibal to make good music. try and have fun when youre jamming, i dare you.
You don’t have to be another ‘mickey mouse club’ to have fun either…CC and DB kill this!!!
When you say, “when a band comes at you with a name such as IWRESTLEDABEARONCE, you probably don’t know what to expect until you actually give them a chance,” it got my attention. I don’t know about anyone else, but when I see some random, pop-culture-oriented band name with all the words put together without spaces, I get a pretty clear idea about what it’s going to be like. I might not know the details, but it does tip me off that it’s going to be an attempt at irony, humour and cleverness that falls short of the mark. Upon further investigation, that’s precisely what I found.
Hey dumb go fuck yourself you hot topic faggot. Go back buy some Suicide Silence Shirts you fucking queer. Don’t talk shit on good bands when obviously this band has no fucking talent and just play random notes. I bet you are some tight pants, mop top, low top snearker wearing fag who gets his hair nice and ready for a show to impress your other metrosexual friends. Fuck this band hope they die in a van flip accident and I hope you get your teeth knocked out at a show you wanna be metal head faggot.
I like the Destroyer 666 ad of the side of this page.