SPECIAL OPS - PHASE 2: AMIDST THE MADNESS
 

Most of the time it takes a minute or two to gain some notoriety before a band gets noticed. This band has a mission; from their current base in Montreal Special Ops is ready to dominate. This record “PHASE 2: Amidst The Madness” is the follow up to “PHASE 1: In Search Of Madness” (My favorite track off that LP is "Pick Up The Pieces") the bands first LP, they released a five track EP titled “Emily” prior. Currently Special Ops is on tour for the first time since canceling their tour earlier this year due to Bassist Waldo Thornhill’s battle with Colon Cancer and he’s winning! Waldo’s main weapon was throwing himself into the music working with the band on their third LP to be released March 2009. The band is Abe Froman – Vocals, Akbar Johnson – Vocals/Guitar, Waldo Thornhill – Bass and of course Clarence Mcgillacutty on the Beat Cylinders (Drums).

Now to the tunes, are they as amazing as people say? First Track ‘Anger Is Creeping’ starts in with solid ear grabbing guitar riffs in sync with the pounding percussion, the lyrics come in with conviction vocals are steady and fitting well with the melody. All the elements of the track are blending together, making the track catchy and pleasant to the ears including the effects of the production. The music to the next track is beyond explicable the fusion is insane but the vocal arrangements and lyrics I am not feeling, the music and vocals don’t belong together they are too choppy and monotone sounding as if he was trying really hard to keep timing with the beat, there’s no fire. The best part of the vocals are the growls, if the lyrics were sung with a different melody throwing in some back up vocals, in a different key rather than the one used there would be extreme potential turn around.

One tune titled ‘Damn Yourself’ I am vibing, although there is the similarities to the last track on the vocals when it comes to the delivery in a few of the verses, the choruses and hooks are done exceptionally well. The music has a System Of A Down feel, fading into a Linkin Park, P.O.D merge coming off as one and only ‘Special Ops’. ‘Damn Yourself’ trademarks the bands unique chemistry, this tune is a must hear it also has a little Rage Against The Machine haunt to it. ‘Feel For You’ starts in strong with an unforgettable guitar riff that will be stuck like glue but the vocal arrangements are a bit disappointing, I don’t think the vocalists know their true potential yet and could have made this track much better than it is. I was expecting more of a power punch; you will know exactly what I am talking about once you hear the track in its entirety. It’s too simple, I know there are so many ways to make it incomparable if tweaked a bit.

Special Ops definitely has mind bending guitar riffs and exploding percussion, the music draws you in making you crave more. Their live show is supposed to be crazy I will give you all a full review when I get to check them live. Most memorable tunes on this LP are ‘Felony’ which has its own exclusive sound as do the greater parts of this LP, I do give them super props for making majority of this album a different story and not a complete rerun although there were a few bumps in the production and arrangements the good tunes make up for those minor infractions. ‘Front Of The Line’ is another good tune it has this STP Nu Metal vibe about it definitely not old school Metal, nobody can do it old school anymore.

On the softer side is track seven ‘George’ a little reminiscent of Three Days Grace and has to do with an obvious issue ‘Time and Time again I see you wasted, time and time again your finger pointing at me.’ Vocals were excellent on this track nothing missing, this tune’s mission is complete. Another outstanding tune is ‘Here I Go’ with a Spanish Guitar intro dropping into thunder clashing percussion progressing to one unbelievable track! Vocals were impressive on this tune exactly how I envisioned the vocal arrangements to the music composition from the first note, the fire that this tune has is what ‘Feel For You’ is missing.

Has Special Ops completed their mission? No, not yet; they are however off to a good start, but they do not even know how irreplaceable they could be. This band is capable of anything at this point, they just have to unlock and tap into the extreme potential continually perfecting their art.

Check The Links for more on Special Ops!!
Enter Site
http://www.myspace.com/opsmission

SPECIAL OPS - PHASE 2: AMIDST THE MADNESS
 

REVIEW POSTED BY DRWKNIGHT

Ah, this takes me back…

Imagine a fresh faced fourteen-year old, dressed in a hoodie and dirty jeans, wandering around the local heath with his friends, trying to find a quiet place to smoke. It is a time of long summer holidays and bitching about schoolwork, and attempting to do underage everything but failing miserably on at least one of them because of a complete inability to talk to girls. Some things have remained from that time – mostly a soft spot for metal, but also the complete inability to talk to girls.

If I had heard of Special Ops then, I would probably have snapped up as much of their stuff as possible. Now, I’m not so sure. Not because the Canadian four-piece are poor musicians, because they’re not, or that their songs lack intelligence or originality, which, unfortunately, they do, but simply because the guitars are ridiculously overpowered. This kind of pernickety thing is what really gets me up in the morning, so take it with a pinch of salt. Now, I know that metal often calls for insane amounts of axe-action – Pantera probably wouldn’t be half as good if it weren’t for Dimebag’s weapon scything through everything and demanding, like a half-Spartan, half-Scottish warp-drive engineer, for “MORE POWER!” – but bands such as Tool (and One Minute Silence, a bit of a blast from the past) have shown that you don’t need this to be heavier.

Special Ops’ music is very reminiscent of Machine Head, and, oddly enough, the heavier (and earlier) parts of Incubus. If you can imagine a cross between Burn My Eyes and Fungus Amongus, this is Amidst The Madness. Special Ops have made a good record here, but there is more promise of better to come than there is actual greatness. Some of the riffs, and, indeed, whole songs, such as the final track, “You”, and the poor Cemetery-Gates-rip-off “George”, are a little amateurish. Don’t let this deter you from Amidst The Madness, and certainly don’t write off Special Ops because of it. Keep an eye on them, because if they would only inject a little thought into their music, they could be brilliant.