I Hate Therefore I Am

1991 was a year of transition for rock. It was in late 1991 that Nirvana's Nevermind and Pearl Jam's self-titled debut album were released; thanks to those ultra-influential albums, alternative rock took over MTV -- and the pop-metal and hair metal bands that had been huge in the 1980s went out of fashion. Arguably, 1991 was the last year in which rock's baby boomers were still in command; after that, Generation X dictated what you saw on MTV and what made the cover of Spin. Cyclone Temple was, in the early '90s, among the forward-thinking bands that were pointing heavy rock in new directions. When its debut album, I Hate Therefore I Am, came out in 1991, alternative metal outfits like Cyclone were not considered mainstream -- a few years later, they were. Unfortunately, Cyclone was not able to ride the alternative explosion of 1992-1993 to the top of the charts, but this CD is noteworthy just the same. While some alterna-metallers thrive on bombast for the sake of bombast, Cyclone is more intricate. I Hate Therefore I Am is, in its own way, every bit as musical as the 1980s fantasy metal of Queensryche and Iron Maiden (although the songs are more angular). But Cyclone is alternative all the way, and its forceful yet melodic brand of alterna-metal draws on influences that range from Living Colour to Anthrax and Metallica. The material is mildly funky, but not extremely funky; while Living Colour is among the influences, Cyclone doesn't pour on the funk to the degree that Living Colour, 24-7 Spyz, and the reunited Mother's Finest were pouring it on in the early '90s. Again, I Hate Therefore I Am was not a huge seller; Cyclone only had a small cult following. But that doesn't make this CD any less appealing. ~ Alex Henderson