Published on Oct 4, 2001
Bands like Virulence drop my jaw. Here you get a band with all
sorts of musical ideas that are crammed into the 26:49 on this CD.
The band changes musical themes three times within a 30-second
phrase such as from 1:30-2:00 in “Reptilian Triangle.” Pick my jaw
off the floor please. How do these musicians
do that?
I don’t have an answer to that except to quote my cubicle
neighbor at work, Jon, who summarized the band with the statement,
“They’re doing this because they
can.”
Virulence can do anything. Imagine clean Al DiMeola guitar tone
riffs toggling with Detachment death metal guitar riffs in the same
song. Imagine the musical adventuresome tendencies of Dream Theater
and Spiritual Architect toggling with the intensity of a band like
Morbid Angel. You get all sorts of musical styles within the same
song. And that can make for a challenging listen. With some bands,
you can feel the “set up” for where the song is going, sometimes to
the point where you can anticipate the changes in riffs or when the
drummer will accent his cymbals. I think a lot of 80s metal bands
had traits like this. Listening to Quiet Riot, for example,
prepared me for listening to Ratt, Dokken, and even Van Halen.
That’s the anti-example.
Virulence is nothing like that. You cannot anticipate when the
changes will come in a song, as there is no set up, no cue to let
the listener know when something is going to change. The band is
part of an exciting genre that cannot be classified. You have
traces of death metal vocals, jazz guitar in parts, drumming that
work hard to accompany the ever-changing landscape.
If you go out and buy this CD or listen to its musical vision,
you will know what I am talking about. I’ve listened to this CD for
weeks and I still haven’t become familiar with the changes of these
songs to anticipate the changes. Track five “Evolutionary
Masquerade” is another prime example of a wild musical journey. The
changes from the 1:54 mark to the 2:17 mark are nothing short of
amazing.
Virulence is the type of band I can take in large doses. They
are the type of band where 26:49 is not nearly long enough. These
eight songs cover an amazing musical landscape.