Completion Makes the Tragedy

An intriguing album to say the least, Completion Makes the Tragedy is the first effort by Coldseed -- a somewhat supergroup boasting members of Soilwork and Blind Guardian who appear to be on a mission to come up with something very different from their regular pursuits in European power metal and post-death metal. And, to their credit, they've used an incredibly eclectic assortment of styles with which to compose this album's songs, the bulk of which boil down to fusing staccato thrash riffs to blues-based rock licks, traces of goth rock and alt metal, plus a variety of vocal styles ranging from clean singing, to computer processed robot tones, to syncopated, semi-rap retrieved from mostly extinct nu-metal. The latter quality may prove a deal breaker for many fans when faced with the start-stop, jump-da-f**k-up rhythms of "My Affliction," "Low" and the title track, among others -- and not only traditionalists expecting sounds familiar to the musicians' other bands, either. More familiar to them will be "Democracy Lesson," with its far more linear, driving riffs and gothic. synth-backed. melodically sung chorus, "At Last's" uncontained thrashing, and "Reflection," a surprisingly straightforward ballad which stands out like a sore thumb, thanks to its suitably dramatic guitar solo and harmony parts. However, these rare moments of "normalcy" can hardly outweigh persistent oddities like "Five More to Fix" (mingling thrash and falsettos), "On My Way" (featuring an old Faith No More combination from "Ugly in the Morning"), and atonal, cumbersome cuts like "Nothing But a Loser," "Burning with a Shade" and "Hatched" -- all of which spend way too much time dawdling in dull guitar grinds to be salvaged by their interspersed melodic breakdowns. In the end, Completion Makes the Tragedy certainly has its moments, and the members of Coldseed do deserve kudos for stretching into unexplored territory, but until their strange hybrid creation reveals itself to be the "future of metal" they claim it to be, let's just say they'd better keep their day jobs. ~ Eduardo Rivadavia