Octagon – Artisans of Cruelty
Autopsy Kitchen – AKR00 – 2005
By Nathan Pearce
Octagon is a confusing band. The album cover is kind of cool. The inner sleeve art and pictures are kind of cool too. But the music is just a letdown.
Artisans of Cruelty definitely has potential at times, but there are too many songs that just bring this album way down. I suppose you’d call
Octagon a black metal band, but I’m not sure if there’s any point to classifying them. Their music just isn’t worth classifying.
I like the idea of a concept album about S&M and other erotic issues, but when songs like ‘Psychotic Erotic’ are the result of that concept, I just can’t join in the fun. Seriously, though, ‘Psychotic Erotic’ is so bad it ruins the entire album for me. Why did
Octagon even include the song?
To be fair, there are moments of what I’d almost call “inspiration” on this album. Maybe
Octagon was just in too much of a hurry, or maybe these are just the first songs they ever wrote. Either way, 90% of this album shouldn’t have been recorded. The other 10% leaves me wondering if maybe, just maybe, these guys could come up with a good EP or something. Trying to jump into another album would be a mistake, I feel. It’s clear that ideas worth recording do arise in this band, but those ideas need to be separated from the ideas that shouldn’t be recorded.
If this band decides to move on with their career as musicians, I’d suggest taking their time crafting songs. The moments of “inspiration” are there, you just have to dig deep . . . very deep. I can’t say that nobody will like this; it’s just way to generic and immature for me.
3/10
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