J-Man Path to Hocma is a weird album - one that your average listener probably won't appreciate very much. Like many avant-garde albums (for me, at least), Path to Hocma is a one-of-a-kind album that hasn't completely convinced me of its genius. David Pisabarr and his alias as 413 have created some extremely unique and challenging music here, but I just can't find a whole lot of standout material. For a free price tag and an adventurous attitude, this is worth a shot for most everyone, but I can really only see the die-hard avant fans adoring it. Most of all, David Pisabarr has made a brave experiment here and, though it's not entirely successful, it's a remarkable effort that should hopefully expand the fanbase of 413.

The music on Path to Hocma defies most genre tagging, but I'll go with a loose tag of avant-garde metal. There's hints of Disco Volante-era Mr. Bungle and Sleepytime Gorilla Museum, though 413 is slightly more metal-oriented than the aforementioned acts. This is just a melting pot for so many different genres of music and, like many other avant-garde metal bands, the result is often mixed. Tracks like "The Town", "The Brigit Mountains" and "The Bindu Sea: Cloudy" impress me, but the vast majority of the album doesn't move me significantly. I guess I'm not in the targeted listening audience for Path to Hocma, though, so you should take that into consideration as well. People who are more into the avant-garde and experimental sides of music than this humble reviewer may find themselves enjoying this release more than myself. The quality is generally high; it's just the music itself that doesn't always appeal to me.

One of the high points of Path to Hocma is the production, which is excellent. The organic sound that has been achieved here is truly remarkable - David's talents as a producer are impeccable.

Path to Hocma is a high-quality avant-garde metal album, but I can't say I've been completely won over. People who enjoy acts like Sleepytime Gorilla Museum should get a kick out of this one even though my own enjoyment is mixed. David Pisabarr has created a truly unique experiment here, and for the generally positive outcome, 3 stars are well-deserved. Fans of more avant-garde and experimental music will definitely want to check this out; especially since 413 has generously offered it for free download from their website.

The Block A path to nowhere

Some people put this as one of their top albums of 2010, but this is, in my opinion one of the worst. I’m a fan of avant-garde music, but I don’t think it blends well with metal. “We’re Only in it for the Money” by Frank Zappa is one of my favorite Zappa albums, and that is pretty avant-garde, but it is not metal so it has a much more light and airier feel to it. But, when it is mixed with metal, it has a screeching and halting tone and rhythm to it.

The vocals on this album are not to my taste at all. It’s a mix between screaming and regular vocals. This would be fine, or at least better than it is, if it didn’t grate so much with the guitars. Also it just sounds plain bad. The screaming isn’t even that good because it is way too high pitched and a little flat.

One thing that saves this album a little bit is that the drums and guitars are very solid. On the song “The Swamp, it starts off very cool with a guitar lick and some very solid drumming by David Pisabarro. Also the bass riff adds a lot to this track, too. I thought this song was going to be very good, in relation to the others, but then his vocals had to ruin another relatively good song. This time though his screams are a little better, since they are lower and more controlled. In parts they also more resemble growls, which I like a lot.

The avant-garde feel of this album is okay, to say the best. The odd beats and rhythms are kind of good. In songs like “The Swamp”, “The Brigit Mountains”, and “The Desert of the Real” this makes it a little better. In “The Desert of the Real” and “The Swamp” he uses the triangle to offer that avant-garde feel.

That’s the only thing that I can appreciate from this album. That it tries to be avant-garde. I don’t not like it because it is avant-garde; I don’t like it because none of his vocals, or much else for that matter, are relatively good. If David Pisabarro would just stop singing, and focus more on just making instrumental songs I can see his future albums being much better. But, for this disappointing release that I only picked up because I heard it was good, 413 gets 2 stars.