Those who attended Ozzfest’99 will remember Apartment 26 as the band that stole the show on the second stage during their stint of the tour. They later took the positive energy from Ozzfest’99 into the studio to crank out a three dimensional metal album, Hallucinating. It’s heavily armed with chunks of techno, bits of drum and bass, and a distinctive sonic flow that’s strongly present throughout the fourteen-track debut. Some of the best songs on this record are not the ones advertised by the record label. I found myself thriving on the deeper tracks that lie within.
What really won my heart is the overall production done by producer Ulrich Wild and Apartment 26. Again, there’s this particular sonic flow in a number of the songs, and it pushes the band ahead of the competition. The music is well layered instrumentally, as the vocals and melodies that fade in and out become more of a dominant part of their overall style. Jon Greasley (guitar) and Louis Cruden (bass) fit together well to represent a thick sound of genres ranging from techno-metal to death-metal, to even prog-rock. And to top it all off, you hear everything that’s going on, from drums to keys to additional programming. If you’re a music fan like myself who enjoys not only the music but the vision and hard work that goes into producing quality sounding records, then Hallucinating is worth your hard earned cash.
The drum and bass opening of “Backward” will keep you moving before the guitars come ripping in to control the rest of the song. “Backwards” and “Slicebeats” are examples of how a metal band can create a sonic flow and still be heavy. Both songs are aimed at conquering the world but with two different approaches to songwriting and style. “Backwards” was co-written by frontman Evan Seinfeld of Biohazard and takes more of a prog-rock pose with a tremendous tone, while “Slicebeats” is a raw hook-attack with the beautiful snarl of Biff’s voice mixed over backup vocals. The end result is a nicely violent piece of music. For those unfamiliar with the band, Biff’s family background starts at the roots of metal; his father is Geezer Bulter of Black Sabbath. Like father, like son!
Other cuts that show Apartment 26’s diversity are “Basic Breakdown”, “Bruised”, and the title track, “Hallucinating”. On “Hallucinating”, the band decides to throw you a curve with a song that could be the bastard child of metal act Machine Head. The toned down style of Machine Head is ever present, but the band goes original with a fierce force of death-metal-techno they’re happy to call their own. Another defining moment on this record lies within “Basic Breakdown” when Greasley turns up the amp good and loud for all to hear. And one of my favorites here is “Bruised”. Right from the get-go of the drums and the base line groove, you know this song has the potential to be brutal.
All in all, Hallucinating is not a bad way to introduce yourself to the metal world.
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