People still have to deal with modern Metal genres to separate wheat from chaff, because there are many new names arising on the genre's scene, so to catch who really deserves a careful listening from those that still needs to mature a bit more needs a lot of dedication. But North American TALLAH needs to evolve a bit more if they want to deserve to get on higher ground, because "Matriphagy" is really a boring and annoying album.

Here on this album, a form of New Metal that mixes influences from SYSTEM OF A DOWN and SLIPKNOT and something more (even some touches of Industrial Metal can be heard on the album). The sonority is truly great and modern, abrasive and aggressive as the fans of such genre love. But the name of Max Portnoy (yes, the son of the Thunder God Mike Portnoy) or his drumming isn't enough to make such chaotic mass attractive. Sometimes, this album seems to be empty of a reason to exist, when it isn't sounding like many other names.

The sound quality of "Matriphagy" is what would be expected from a New Metal album: abrasive, nasty and greasy, but always in a way that the listeners can understand without great problems. But some tunes could be better (especially in the drums, because such snare drums tunes is disgusting, and one could ask if Max learned the thing in the right way with his father).

Maybe the problem of the quintet resides in the need for a producer, because good ideas can be heard on songs as "No One Should Read This" (an abrasive and strong groove can be heard on this one), "Kungan", "Placenta", "The Silo", "Cottonmouth" (a short and coherent song, and maybe a good idea for their next release), and "Red Light", but the lack of a musical direction sometimes gives the idea that the band can't bind together all their musical ideas. It's not a total waste, but maybe they can have a better result next time having a producer as Ross Robison or Logan Mader to give a helping hand (and correct these disgusting tunes on the drums).

Maybe a little homework could make TALLAH a good name in the future.