Paradigm in Entropy

Album review

Paradigm: an outstandingly clear example or archetype. Entropy: the degree of disorder or uncertainty in a system. Paradigm in Entropy: perfect chaos? Ah, who knows. The sober truth about Bleed the Sky's pompously named debut is that these SoCal natives don't seem to know what they want to be when they grow up. On the one hand, representative tracks like "Minion," "Kill Tank," and "Borrelia Mass," with their down-tuned riffs, processed melodic choruses, and machine-like drum patterns, suggest the group want to emulate Fear Factory by way of Meshuggah; on the other hand, inconsistent cuts like "Skin un Skin" (featuring a great melodic bridge, but nothing else), "The Martyr" (containing an Incubus-like commercial display), and the wince inducing "Leverage" (which sounds like Korn's Jonathan Davis' being molested by Burton C. Bell and company), see them wallowing in the cesspool of nu-metal predictability. And therein lies the crux of Bleed the Sky's dilemma: discerning metalheads will likely dismiss them with barely one listen, while nu-metal fans drawn by the group's musical and visual presentation (which includes all of the right haircuts, piercings, and a mostly inaudible, and probably unnecessary DJ) will think the brief notions of hardcore and death metal contained here are positively revolutionary. Which is to say that this flawed but bold debut could very well slip right through the stylistic cracks separating nu-metal and its apparent early 2000s replacement, the more purist-grounded New Wave of American Heavy Metal. In any case, Bleed the Sky's obvious versatility and commendable experimental nature suggest that they need only compile a little more experience in order to harness their schizophrenic songwriting impulses, but, as it stands, Paradigm in Entropy's description is only half accurate.

© Eduardo Rivadavia /TiVo