C-187 – Collision

A vast amount of the reviews this album gets will probably start with a listing of the participants, their musical curriculum vitaes, and the quite radical change in style they’ve all gone through. Oh so predictable … but still impossible to avoid.

The names Sean Reinert, Patrick Mameli, and Tony Choy would, and should, namely be instantly recognized by fans of Death or Thrash Metal, having produced classic albums with names such as Death, Atheist, Pestilence, and Cynic. Joining them for this album is singer Tony Jelencovich (of M.A.N and Mnemic fame), and some of you could possibly feel that the inclusion of the latter would indicate a far more modern sound than the old-school technicalities of the instrumentalists. If this was the case you’re also most certainly right; C-187 plays an, although very technical, utterly modern form of Hardcore/Nu-Metal. There are some Death/Thrash elements in the mix, though, and especially Reinert gets to show that he’s still among the more wicked stick wielders in the business.

This is also what makes the album eatable. The more straight ahead tracks, like “Murda” and “Rip Deal,” are namely horrible (although Mameli plays a neat solo in the latter). The more progressive, the more entertaining, is basically the key with this album. Considering that the songs are those that mostly recall the band members’ past, it’s tempting to say that Collision, a self-proclaimed “clash of styles from around the world,” totally fails in the attempt of creating a musical melting pot –- but to some extent succeeds in making old fans of the aforementioned bands desperately want those, but not necessarily C-187, to make some new stuff. (Obviously you’ll not hear another Death-album, but the point’s still there …).

It’s not all bad, though, and both the title track, “Cruisin’ For A Bruisin’,” “Drugged And Mugged,” and “New Territory” are actually pretty good. Mameli’s fluid and musical playing is fantastic throughout, and Reinert, at least at times, shows what he’s made of. Jelencovich’ vocals are horrible, though, all Hardcore-ish and noisy. Not brutal, just noisy. And those song titles … **sigh**