Wilytank Whenever the term avant-garde metal gets brought up, it usually sounds like some already known genre, usually progressive metal but with a few changes like different instruments being played or several songs that are all different styles. Enter Toby Driver, one of the most prominent musicians in the genre. He gets some guys (and at least one girl) together and starts Maudlin of the Well, a band that has generated quite a lot of buzz despite having all their albums out of print for a while now. Let's have a crack at 'My Fruit Psychobells...A Seed Combustible' (which must have been a name picked while Toby was playing Scrabble drunk) and see what Toby's interpretation of avant-garde music sounds like.

What we have here is a whole lot of progressive post rock with some breaths of sludge metal. At times, it seems like the band attempts to play death metal as well, most notably on "A Conception Pathetic", but it's a rather third rate version of death metal that isn't going to trump any big names in that genre. So, I guess the metal populace has agreed to put all that under the umbrella term "avant-garde metal". In fact, I'd put this album on the same boat as the works of Isis or Cult of Luna.

And sludge metal is how this album first introduces itself in "Ferocious Weights" with some 'Souls at Zero' era Neurosis flavored playing mixed with trumpet. There's some female vocals here as well brought about by Maria-Stella Fountoulakis eventually joined by a male vocalist. At about the halfway point, they break into death metal mode playing faster with some furious soloing going on. Following that, the post rock shows itself with clam sounding guitar, keys, and Maria's voice.

"A Conception Pathetic" is one of the weaker pieces on here, sticking a lot to the aformentioned third rate death metal flavor. It does have the post rock vibe to it still, but it just isn't very interesting. I really don't care for the ragtime piano piece that finishes up the song. After that song though, the album's best songs come forth. "Undine and Underwater Flowers" keeps itself more exclusive to the post rock side of things and actually is quite nice to have after "A Conception Pathetic". "The Ocean, the Kingdom, and the Temptation" is probably my favorite of the bunch here. It has the best combination of the post rock and sludge metal flavors on this album. Then comes "Pondering a Wall" a weaker song with more of that mediocre death metal flavor hanging in there. "Catharsis of Sea-Sleep and Dreaming Shrines" is a better one that follows "The Ocean..."'s lead with the post rock and sludge metal combination. The last song, "Blight of River Systems" is definitely the worst song here with its giddy sing-along style vocal delivery which is really annoying and weaker iteration of the post rock style.

It seems that fans of Maudlin of the Well and Toby Driver's other big project Kayo Dot have a problem with people calling Toby's work unfocused, but that's what 'My Fruit Psychobells...' is. It doesn't stick to one main style. It flip flops first in sludge metal in one song, then introduces death metal in the next, then a mostly post rock piece, etc. After listening to "Catharsis...", I went back to "Ferocious Weights" and thought, "Huh, the album actually sounded like this at one point?" Lack of focus isn't that big of a beef though as there are some good tracks here, but there are bad ones as well.

So, is 'My Fruit Psychobells...A Seed Combustable' enjoyable? Yeah, it is, but I wouldn't make it the first thing I'd listen to if I ever allowed onto my iPod. What Maudlin of the Well needs is more songs like "Ferocious Weights", "The Ocean, the Kingdom, and the Temptation", and "Catharsis of Sea-Sleep and Dreaming Shrines" with less pieces like "A Conception Pathetic", "Pondering a Wall", and "Blight of River Systems". But Toby went ahead and found other ways to make an album weaker than it could have been in 'Bath', but that's a review for a different day.

Conor Fynes 'My Psychobells... A Seed Combustible' - maudlin of the Well (6/10)

Perhaps immortalized for their essential duology of albums 'Bath' and 'Leaving Your Body Map,' many fans of the group seem to forget about avant-garde metal act maudlin of the Well's debut. Although the group wouldn't release a well-rounded piece of work until the second album, the album mysteriously called 'My Psychobells... A Seed Combustible' is certainly worth looking into for the more devoted fans of the band's greater work. Sparing comparisons to other Maudlin records however, 'Psychobells' stands as being a very interesting record, despite having far too many flaws in it's production and execution to be anything really great.

'Psychobells' can be looked at from one of two ways; first as an exceptional demo, and secondly as a flawed album. Keep in mind that there is no short supply of brilliant composition here; maudlin of the Well had already developed their charming sense of 'weirdness' early on, and Toby Driver's brilliance is shown early on. However, the way the album was produced leaves a bit too much to be desired. While production quality is rarely of heavy importance to underground recordings, the garage-style sound of the album really hinders the otherwise strong compositions. Especially when using headphones, there is far too much of a treble presence in the mix, and it makes the sound seem very two dimensional and shrill. The songs at times cut off and unexpectedly segue into a new one, which seems more like a production error over a mere way to be 'avant.'

The performance of the music is alright, and while 'Bath' improved things greatly, 'Psychobells' isn't deterred by any significant instrumental errors. The vocals of Toby Driver himself though, seem very weak here, at times even sounding off-key; the rest of the vocal work here (both growls and female clean) are admirable and functional.

In any case, the trademark instrumentation of the band should be enough to get fans listening to this album. The album shows Maudlin's ability to merge psychedelic and metal influences as one, and make for a completely unique listening experience. While I consider this to only be an 'extended demo' of sorts for the group, maudlin of the Well shows promise here, and a potential that would be realized with 'Bath.'

Phonebook Eater Motw's first album is a surprise. There are so many great songs here, very emotional and moving, like the sort of ballad " Undine and Underwater Flowers", while others are more crude, like the extremely dark and violent " A Conception Pathetic", where Toby Driver shows how devastating is vocals can be. Not to forget the mysterious, creepy tunes of " The Ocean, The Kingdom, And the Temptation", 11 minutes of regularly changing moods, from scary to haunting to violent. I also would like to mention " Pondering a Wall", maybe one of motw's best songs ever; the music video however is very weird and makes the song sound not as good. To end with, it's an excellent debut that everyone who is aware of motw's existence should give it a try. Nice cover.