Nu Metal Revisited
From Gothenburg, Sweden we have a slab of American style heavy metal that would have been perfect if the year was 1999. M.A.N have been born from the ashes of 'Transport League' and is fronted by ex Mnemic singer Tony J.J, and they have a sound that is extremely dated and over-used but only over-used because the nu-metal movement is still fresh in the memory. I'll make no bones about it nu-metal is precisely what we have here and I'm well aware the band and promoters will disagree wholeheartedly but I'm not saying this album, 'Obey.Consume.Reject', is bad because of this fact, on the contrary it's an enjoyable listen from start to finish.
'Obey.Consume.Reject' doesn't demand much from the listener, not every type of music has to I might add, in fact you know what you're going to get after the first two tracks. The formula goes along the lines of bottom-end guitar riff for 4 bars before everything kicks into a 'jump jump jump' mid tempo beat. Tony J.J shouts over the verse and uses a whined or clean chorus sporadically, and there's little in the way of solos or musicianship, although everything on the disc is played competently enough. If you imagine Coal Chamber, Korn, Mudvayne, American Head Charge and Slipknot playing card toss and replace the hat with M.A.N then you may get an idea of where the band are coming from.
So this album maybe as original as beans on toast but it still rocks, it all depends on how willing you are to step back a few years. There are some quality tracks on this disc, 'Cancered,' 'Monster Device' and 'Last Injection' to name but three, and if I was being honest there's little in the way of filler on this album as all eleven tracks are palatable to a certain degree. The production is sharp, down tuned and in your face, as it should be, and the one trick pony style of music M.A.N play comes across very well because of this. I think if this album was released in 1999 then it could have been huge but I fear it's strengths maybe it's own downfall.
'Kick Down' is American Head Charge to a tee, 'None 2 Tell' is a Coal Chamber hand me down, and opener 'Fold and Disgusted' wouldn't have sounded out of place on the first Slipknot album. It is unfortunate that music moves on and certain sounds get left behind, but that's how music is kept fresh and exciting, I think if I'd heard 'Obey.Consume.Reject' in 2015 then I'd be reminiscing more fondly than I am at the moment, because at present the sound is something caught on the smoking trail of crashed band wagon. A shame because this is worthy of attention, I just hope there's enough people willing to pay attention to a sound in which the metal movement has moved on from, mind you there's always American radio, they love this type of stuff.