“Kickass Bladerunner thrash!” the bands Myspace proclaims. By this I assume they mean mostly mid-paced grooving thrash, coupled with black metal-esque vocals and samples/effects that would remind one of the Bladerunner movie. Now, I’ve never seen the movie (yeah, yeah, sue me), so I can’t point out if they use samples of the flick or merely draw inspiration from it or both. After researching a bit, I was a somewhat surprised to learn I had never heard of Dimension F3H. Founded and apparently solely written by Morfeus of Limbonic Art, Does the Pain Excite You? is the bands second full length, after a couple demos and a 2003 debut, Reaping the World Winds.
Does the Pain Excite You? can be rather awesome at times, and horrid at others. On the positive side, opener “Babylon”, “Superior”, “Nine Tails of the Cat”, closer “Violent Fantasy”, parts of the title track and “Freakshow” all stomp, romp, blast and thrash with the best of them, and weave the cyber/industrial elements into the mix in a primarily symphonic/atmospheric role that doesn’t detract from the metal.
On the negative side, the industrial elements can be overbearing, such as the “robot” vocals heard on “Cyber Queen” (I’d rather punch myself in the face than listen to this track again), or the slower, plodding first half of “Final Solution” that always makes me want to skip the track before the excellent second half kicks in, where they pick up the pace and include some good solo work. The cyber/industrial workings in “Echo Chamber” are much more prevalent and less tastefully incorporated, (see the entirely techno-ish section during the latter half) detracting from the song.
The all out highlight however is the title track, which combines all of their various elements best. Things start a little on the slow side, but gradually pick up, with some powerful, epic like clean vocals midway through that fall out into a fantastic key break which in turn gives way to some full on thrashing.
I must commend Dimension F3H for having a unique sound, but there are some kinks that need to be worked out before I could fully endorse them. Despite this, I would suggest checking them out if you want to hear something a little different in the thrash realm.
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I think Morfeus is better with Limbonic Art. Also, he is now the touring guitarist for Mayhem. No word on whether or not he will be their permanent replacement for Blasphemer, though.
on Jan 4th, 2009 at 14:53I’ll say I’m interested in hearing this just because of Morfeus’ involvement but what I really wanted to say is this: Do yourself a favor and watch Blade Runner, Larry. It may well be one of the most overrated sci-fi flicks ever but just like 2001: A Space Odyssey, it’s one you HAVE to see.
“I want more life, father!!!”
on Jan 4th, 2009 at 20:32Is there a movie you haven’t seen, Cynic?
on Jan 5th, 2009 at 10:10Yup, I’m missing some. Stuff like Inside and Martyrs still sits in my to-watch list. But yeah, my friends get really snappy at me whenever we go and rent some movies. “You’ve seen everything, you prick!!!” is the general consensus. :)
on Jan 5th, 2009 at 16:26I don’t know if this band sounds interesting enough to check out, but don’t feel bad Larry, I’ve never seen Blade Runner either.
I did however DVR it the other night so I could at some point watch it to see what all the fuss was about.
on Jan 6th, 2009 at 11:07Blade Runner is godly. Really had an effect on me growing up.
on Jan 6th, 2009 at 14:14