I was looking for a new band to get into and I came across born's last album abnormal head machine. I figured I'd give them a try and see how it all ended up. That's what the review is for.
01. -A.H.M.-
02. Extremely Waltz
03. vermin's cry (A.H.M. ver)
04. with hate (A.H.M. ver)
05. Chemical Romance
06. Tragedy
07. white harmony (A.H.M. ver)
08. Innocent Bullet
09. Rotten Cherry
10. -tHiNk- (A.H.M ver)
11. Dust Pain (A.H.M. ver)
12. Ruisei no Hana
13. THE END
| -A.H.M.- | A pretty bland instrumental with some mechanical drums and electronic effects thrown in. It doesn’t offer much and serves to make the introduction to the next track smoother. | 3/10 |
| Extremely Waltz | The change of pace a minute and a half in isn’t forceful enough and even though the track changes direction it doesn’t move me along with it. With the exception of Ryouga, the members feel washed out and quieted. Had this been a pure rock track or a complete slower number, the production wouldn’t have been as noticeable. Putting that aside, the drumming goes from setting the pace of the track at the beginning to being relentless near the end. The guitars do some nice riffs here and there and the bass is audible if not a little muted. Overall though, the production hurts what otherwise would have been a great opening track. | 7/10 |
| Vermin's cry (A.H.M ver) | All the tracks with A.H.M. next to it are previously released singles from what I grasp. The lead in to this from the previous track is smooth which nets both a few points. The verses are pretty dark with some riffing on the side supported by relentless drums, but it’s the chorus that throws me for a loop. It’s sandwiched into two very hard parts and doesn’t sound natural even though the flow is good. This pattern is repeated consistently as well. That, and personally I dislike hard verses contrasted by overly poppy choruses. The chorus is the only time the bass guitar emerges for some fun and the guitars play fine but the harsh vocals in this track aren’t as harsh as they can be and it comes off very unsatisfying by the end of it. I personally enjoyed Extremely Waltz more. | 6/10 |
| with hate (A.H.M. ver) | The track isn’t bipolar in nature and the track sounds great with surprisingly audible bass and semi-piercing screams. The chorus flows well with the track and the verses are consistent. The drums sound the loudest here but the guitars are a little more muted than usual. It’s a little short but it works. | 7/10 |
| Chemical Romance | Ryouga’s voice in the verses are annoying and most of the verses are just average vocal-wise. The chorus is upbeat and another sandwiched section done awkwardly but I personally think that it’s the shining point of the song. The solo is also pretty good and everything sounds better overall. The little drum insertion near the end is also a nice touch. I’m quite undecided if I like this track or not. | 6/10 |
| Tragedy | It’s my opinion that nothing needs to be downproduced when the music is initially heavy. Tragedy suffers from that however and everything sounds unnecessarily deep and it moves along at the pace of Sexual Affection. The only thing that seems to escape from that vortex of deepness where drum pedal and bass become one are Ryouga’s voice and a solitary guitar line. Ryouga’s growls also sound horrible in parts compared to his clean singing voice (which I swear I’ve heard somewhere else). Once again, the chorus is introduced with little to no sense of flow going on whatsoever and it does not fit. The lighter parts also sound better than the deeper parts because all of the instruments become distinctive. Parts of this song are a tragedy indeed. | 5/10 |
| white harmony (A.H.M. ver) | A definite pick-me-up from the dragging last track. The riffs are distinctive and memorable and the drums sound solid. The chorus is also a contrast from the verse but the lead in is better. I personally find said chorus annoying. The contrast from solo (which was good) to upbeat lead-in part of verse needs work though. Not too crazy about this song but it does certain things right that merit a listen or two. | 7/10 |
| Innocent Bullet | It takes eight tracks for abnormal head machine to vomit up a track I can jump into. Innocent Bullet actually does everything I like: verses with attitudes and delivering vocals, badass guitars, and shifting bass and drums. Chorus kills some of the steam and is as polarizing as hell but the riff afterwards always brings back some of the attitude. Had this song been equipped with a better chorus it would have been excellent. Then again, had most of the songs preceding this had a better chorus they would have been better as well so that’s not saying much in the grand scheme of things. | 8/10 |
| Rotten Cherry | Combines sound effects with hard rock and a lighter chord running throughout and grabs a different feeling than the tracks before it. The guitars have some nice riffs here and don’t sound as muddy as they have been all album. The drums abuse the cymbals and end up being the most disappointing instrument here, as it seems to be here only to keep time. The bass is hard to detect at first but he’s there. The chorus fits excellent here and the verses are listenable. Rotten Cherry turns out a package that’s worth listening to. | 8/10 |
| -tHiNk- (A.H.M ver) | The beginning is hard to swallow but the track moves into it’s own as it lumbers along. Drums have pulled a complete 180 and assert themselves firmly in the track. Guitars are rumbling and ominous and the bass is buried beneath them going strong but inaudible in all but the chorus to me. Ryouga balances singing with screaming and it works to a good extent here. However, the chorus sounds forced ONCE AGAIN and destroys the flow of the track. A very big disappointment in some respects but pretty decent otherwise. | 7/10 |
| Dust Pain (A.H.M. ver) | The opening passage is fine but the sudden transition into heavy doesn’t work. I like each of the individual parts bar the chorus but it doesn’t click together like it should. The lift back into lighter sounds moves at an uncomfortably fast pace and doesn’t. fucking. fit. although I find that it works better with the pace of the track than a sudden transition would. Born needs to work on their choruses and transitions. | 6/10 |
| Ruisai no Hana | I think it’s supposed to be a ballad but it sounds too loud and forceful to be one. It’s a nice try though and I was looking for a change of pace somewhere in this album. The chorus is surprisingly fresh and fits very well. Ryouga’s vocals could use some work but they aren’t atrocious. It’s a different sound and that’s welcome, but it’s too late to save this album from the grasp of mediocrity. | 8/10 |
| THE END | It lets its presence known from the outset with roaring vocals from Ryouga and backvocals from the rest of born. The beginning starts out with some ominous vocals and quieter passages contrasted with rough insertions and harder vocals. THE END tricks you though because when you think it’s going to dip into a chorus it erupts in screams and continues on. When the chorus does come the vocals sound like they don’t fit but there’s no abominable change of pace to be found. It’s the most consistent hard rocker since with hate earlier on and ends off the album on an acceptable note. | 8/10 |
With the second half of the album receiving higher marks than the first half of the album and containing no track that is iconic of what born is capable of, abnormal head machine comes up empty at the end of the day. Those that are fans of born's downproduced, needlessly heavy sound with awkward choruses and bad transitions will find this album to be excellent. For those like me that need to have music that flows smoothly from one section to another this isn't the release for you. A part of this project is to find out what I like and what I don't, and born sadly falls into the latter. If I ever want to get into this band they're going to have to improve a lot in every aspect of their musical composition.
Recommended:
Innocent Bullet
Rotten Cherry
Rating: 66%
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