One thing that seems to be happening more frequently with my album reviews is that, prior to being on staff I have downloaded a track from a band's website, and now that I am on staff I am doing their review. Frantic Bleep is no different. Now trying to describe the music that these Norwegians make is quite difficult. They draw from several different musical genres such as Progressive Metal, Black Metal, and Avant Garde, but it doesn't really matter what their genre is, the point is they kick ass.
Frantic Bleep began in 1991 without a singer, but then in 1992 they went into the studio to record a demo with Madder Mortem's singer Paul Mozart Bjorke. They shopped the demo around a little while and then The End Records decided to pick them up for a U.S.A. release of The Sense Apparatus, their debut album. Earache however, got the rights to The Sense Apparatus outside the U.S.A. Paul would then leave the group before the recording session, and Stein Erik Svendheim would step in. Presently though their lineup consists of singer Kjetil Fosseid, guitarists Patrick Scantlebury and Lars Gunnar Morastseter (The Laughing Man, bassist Eywin Sundstrψmand and drummer Trond Sand (Laughing Man).
The Sense Apparatus begins with a nice instrumental introduction and then flows nicely into the first actual track, The Explusion. This track begins with a nice chugging guitar part and drums blasting away and a quick time change to something little slower with nice vocals. This pattern repeats a couple of times with the vocals then changing to Black Metal vocals and then an abrupt turn to vocals, I cannot even describe. Probably the best part about this is the variety of vocal changes and progressions throughout the entire duration. I do not really remember hearing only one vocalist do so many different voices and sounds with his voice on an album.
I do not want to leave out the music though. The music on the album varies from somewhat of a spacious Rock that would be nice to relax with to a much heavier sound that could really get a mosh pit going.
Overall, this album rocks for whatever kind of mood you are in or the time of day or how intoxicated you might be. So, lovers of Metal that is kind of spaced out, but yet heavy. I strongly encourage a buy, but otherwise download the ...But A Memory.