Frantic Bleep - The Sense Apparatus

You know, I didn't really know what to expect when I first put this Frantic Bleep CD into my stereo.  With Frantic Bleep as a name, I was expecting some sort of experimental music with a lot of electronica influences.  Thankfully I was wrong.  And what we have here from these young Norwegians is a very solid, dark, technical, progressive metal album with some slight death and doom metal influences from time to time.  Frantic Bleep puts on a chaotic performance that will keep you on your toes and yet never veers out of control, but instead teeters on the edge of insanity.  The band mixes clean singing with spoken word, whispers, screaming, deep chanting/gothic type vocals, female vocals (from Agnete Kirkevaag of Madder Mortem) and even some blackish death vocals to further compliment the wonderful musicianship.  This is a band that could bring together the likes of Arcturus, Symphony X, Extol, and Borknagar fans without disappointing a single one.  They rely on their ultra melodic heaviness, but explore softer sounds via perfectly placed keyboards and even some sparsely used industrial and ambient type sounds.  It's quite masterful at times.  Add to all of that a wonderful production and creative artwork and you have a solid all-around package.  The lyrics themselves are quite interesting and a bit strange though.  I'm not able to make heads or tales out of most of the songs.  Supposedly they are about the human senses and how they respond and work in our daily life and how you react in different situations and how the inside of you works with the outside, but it's gonna take a lot more reads to figure out how that relates with what I'm reading in the CD booklet.

In the end, I must say that I really dig this band.  This is a very impressive debut and I'm excited about what the future holds for this creative group.

Rating: 89/100

Review By: Matt Morrow

Label: The End Records

Total Songs: 9

Total Time: 41:26

Tracklisting: 1. A Survey, 2. The Expulsion, 3. Sins of Omission, 4. ...But a Memory, 5. Mausolos, 6. Curtainraiser, 7. Mandaughter, 8. Nebulous Termini, 9. Cone.

Best Songs: Tracks 2, 4, 6, 7, and 8.

Band Lineup: Patrick Scantlebury - Guitars/Synth, Eywin Sundstrøm - Guitars, Sten Svendheim - Drums, Paul Mozart Bjørke - Vocals/Bass.

Band Website: http://www.franticbleep.com