E.E.R.

Matter of Taste, Chateau Obscure and Jack of Spades
CD, 45:06 and 45:34 respectively, HPM MOT 96 001-2, WMMS 130, 1996 and 1998
Glauning 130
A-8093 St. Peter/O, Austria
Tel/Fax: ++43 (0)3477-2704
E-mail: maria.anastasiadis@kfunigraz.ac.at
Cyberhome: www.nextcd.com


          This Austrian metal/prog rock outfit is distinguished first and 
foremost by its pretentious, unintentionally funny lyrics. Take these 
lines - please - from "Chateau Obscure": "Poetry drips from the mouth 
of the speaker/ sparkling with shocking beauty." Shocking indeed. Or 
this, from the same song: "Ambitious is their desire melifluos [sic] 
the promise they make/ Inane is their sense inclining towards 
incoherence." We're way beyond "inclining" toward incoherence. The 
apex of the band's metal cliché-mongering comes during "Nightkiller": 
"When thunder roared in days with rain/ a temple broke and sank/ a 
virgin lies in rusty chains/ waiting for the call." Ladies and 
gentlemen, This Is Spinal Tap.
	Two years separate these two releases by Matter of Taste, and 
the main difference seems to be a shift away from prog rock toward 
all-out heavy metal. On Chateau Obscure there are hints of UK 
and even Night Ranger; on Jack of Spades the band sounds more 
like Accept, particularly on the fast-paced "Evolution." On both 
records, the vocal delivery is unbearably melodramatic, the keyboard 
sounds are dated, and the writing is all over the place. Avoid, 
unless you want to amuse your friends.
~David R. Adler


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