DEADWOOD FOREST - "EER-MUSIC.com aka Eclectic Earwig Reviews Music and More for You!"    
HOME PAGE, prog rock, jazz fusion, jazz rock, jazz, pysch/trance, space, electronic, ambient, essentially eclectic excellence
EER-MUSIC.com HOME PAGE

GO HOME
EER-MUSIC.com
MEET THE STAFF HERE

GOOGLE ADSENSE SECRETS REVEALEDGoogle Adsense Secrets
Earn Cash Easy!
I can help you.



Deadwood Forest: Mellodramatic (CD, 47:44) Shroom Productions SP-2009
Shroom Productions
PO Box 130475
Houston, TX 77219
CYBERHOME: http://www.shroomangel.com

Houston, Texas is knows for a lot of things (oil, big hats, cowboy boots,
mechanical bulls, etc.), but nowhere on the list is progressive rock - it
just doesn't fit the mental profile of the city.  However, if music industry
mavens have any brains in their head at all, a little known Houston band by
the name of Deadwood Forest will be on the modern progressive A-list
sometime in the near future.  While listening to their latest release,
Mellodramatic, I couldn't help but wonder why this band isn't the
talk of the progressive community - they are THAT good.  Deadwood Forest
often sounds a lot like Pink Floyd and The Moody Blues with their sweeping
mellotron keyboard samples, gentle guitar, and smooth vocals. However,
pigeonholing them into the Floyd category does not do these guys proper
justice; just when you think your in for a nice relaxing sonic journey with
Mellodramatic, guitarist Ryan Guidry and drummer Andy McWilliams will
RIP into an aggressive and angular frenzy that will knock the headphones
right off your ears.  And to top it all off, they'll even throw some
delicious techno grooves on occasion to keep you on your toes.

Mellodramatic wastes no time in impressing upon the listener that
they're in for a wild ride - the opener "The Pioneer" starts off as a
bizarre sounding Mellotron waltz. The mellowness continues for around two
and a half minutes when out of nowhere Guidry's angular and super-distorted
guitar licks violate the trippy mood while drummer Andy McWilliams rides the
cymbals as if his life depended on it. The sonic experience then shifts to
some calm Beatles-style keyboards, and ends abruptly with a bizarre "beat
box" fade out. With this track, Deadwood Forest accomplishes in
six-and-a-half minutes what "superior" prog acts would take 20 minutes to
do.  Other high points include the sixth track "Dry," which contains some
wonderfully subtle guitar playing and vocals that made me look for Roger
Waters and Syd Barrett in the album credits.  The seven minute "King of the
Skies" contains no less than each of the following: Procol Harum style
organ, a Jethro Tull influenced madrigal section, some techno-sounding
keyboards, surf-style guitar and drums, a heavy metal reggae riff, and an
Indian-style bridge complete with Calcutta percussion.  And the amazing
thing about the piece is the different sections sound like they BELONG
together!

Are there any rough spots on Mellodramatic?  Sure, two of the
instrumentals - "The City in the Sea" and "The Ultraviolence" are sort of
directionless and not very interesting.  But other than that, I can't think
of anything else negative to say.  Even the two tracks that serve as
minute-long musical interludes (which are oddly titled not with words, but
with a yellow line and a blue Line) are interesting, and the closer
"Departure" is a very tasty acoustic ballad - that is until a killer
electronic groove kicks in halfway through and drops you off at the end of
the CD, shaking your head and thanking Deadwood Forest for the wonderful
trip.

I can't say enough good things about Deadwood Tree and Mellodramatic.
It's refreshing to finally hear a modern progressive band that has the
songwriting talent to compose epic-style songs without needing 15 or 20
minutes worth of space to say what they want.  The songwriting here is
succinct and economical, and the band resists the urge to pointlessly noodle
around solely to stretch out the length of their songs.  The lyrics are also
very poetic - it's obvious that keyboardist Mitch Mignano writes from the
heart and not from a thesaurus.

So with all that, I will give Deadwood Forest the highest compliment a
reviewer can possibly give: Mellodramatic will spend much time in my
CD player even AFTER I've written this review - and that doesn't happen very
often.

- Michael Askounes (michael@gscyclone.com)
EER-MUSIC.com

CREDITS:
Ryan Guidry: Vocals and Guitars
Andy McWilliams: Drums
Kurt Coburn: Bass
Mitch Mignano: Keyboards

TRACKLIST:
1. The Pioneer (6:49)
2. ----------- [Yellow Line] (1:40)
3. OCD (2:48)
4. King of the Skies (7:32)
5. The City in the Sea (6:27)
6. Dry (7:02)
7. Stolen Smile (5:30)
8. ----------- [Blue Line] (0:52)
9. The Ultraviolence (6:29)
10. Departure (2:35)

GO TO PREVIOUS PAGE

GO BACK


RETURN TO:


To purchase this recording and get more info, soundclips, etc.

CLICK ON ARTIST'S NAME ABOVE

OR . . .

Please visit my BUY IT E.E.R. NOW INDEX PAGE
OR...
Please try my brand spankin' new

EER and AMAZON.com QUIK-LINKs
buyer's guide to recommended music.


OR ...
go to my LINKS page and find the vendors' section.
Happy hunting!


ALL YOUR CDS ARE BELONG TO US.
Observe how the word
wheel reverses direction
if you try and read words.
EER-MUSIC.com HOME PAGE