Flood - Polarized (ex-tourniquet Gary Lenaire, Guy Ritter, Erik Mendez) PREVIEW VIDEO available

I'm going to struggle not to think of this as TQT, sounds more like them then the last couple TQT albums.

mothy wrote:

Follower of Jesus wrote:Whoa! This smokes!!! I hope they make a digital download available for purchase. I want to support the band. There’s no way I’m paying Boone’s $8 for shipping a single CD. That’s borderline unethical. I wish it was on Amazon.

You can buy a digital from the band but stupidly you have to buy it a song at a time that I see.

www.floodofficial.com/shop/digital-download


And yeah I gave up on Boone's awhile ago for crap like that.

Thanks! I missed that. It's paid and downloaded! 

I've listened to the first 4 songs and all of them are straight up bangers (even if we'd already heard Darfur). This is better than I expected, and I'm even listening on crappy laptop speakers.

I’m not happy with Boones $8 shipping price… but I had to get the physical format. At least I only paid the shipping once, not per disc! 

Surprisingly, my order info says that no CA tax was applied. That’s a plus! Basically, the $8 shipping is like being charged $4 per disc (I bought 2 copies) which is the rate you pay at Amazon, unless you get the free shipping after $25.

Overall, It could be worse… like the $30+ Airola has to pay for international delivery. That is straight up terrible and a rip-off!

Looked back at my previous transactions with Boones via PayPal. The shipping rate seems to change at random. I was charged $5.99 one time and $6.99 another. The only CA tax applied was $1.11 for a new Retroactive Legacy edition Sacrament CD.

Airola wrote:I wish I had only $8 shipping cost...

Look at this:



Yeah, seems like I'm not getting this one as a physical CD.

It was pretty much the same postage cost for me, but as it's Guy, Gary and Erik I went and ordered it.  Paying so much for a CD is a bit of a killer, but I've heard all the tracks on soundcloud, and I didn't want to wait!

Where are you located?

UK.  Which is why I use Nordic Mission or Soundmass.  Both great places to get stuff, and a heck of a lot cheaper!

I pre-ordered too, with three other CDs.  I was charged $8.55 shipping for the four CDs.

Fundy wrote:

Airola wrote:I wish I had only $8 shipping cost...

Look at this:



Yeah, seems like I'm not getting this one as a physical CD.

It was pretty much the same postage cost for me, but as it's Guy, Gary and Erik I went and ordered it.  Paying so much for a CD is a bit of a killer, but I've heard all the tracks on soundcloud, and I didn't want to wait!

I was ready to pay maybe 15 dollars for shipping as that has usually been the most expensive cost I've had to pay for one cd. But 20 dollars on top of that... bummer but can't afford it.

So far I've bought every album Gary, Guy and Ted have released (apart from the Holy Danger tapes) and I really want to have this one eventually too. I'd be more ok with the cost if that money went to Gary. He was really fair for me when I ordered his last solo album directly from him. I had bought it earlier from CD Baby, but I wanted to have it with his signature so I ordered another copy later. That one never arrived. It was lost in mail, and when I asked Gary if he knows anything about it getting lost in mail he offered to send me another copy for free.

I will buy the digital files, and I have to think about the kind offer Follower of Jesus gave. But maybe I'll wait for the CD to be available in some other store eventually. Anyway, I'm going to buy it digitally for the time being.

I bought the digital download from the band's site. Might pick up a CD later if I like it enough and if it comes to a store with cheaper US shipping than Boone's.

For whatever reason the site makes you individually add all 11 tracks to your cart instead of having an option to just buy the whole album. Kinda odd. Also the downloads come with almost no tags on the MP3 files meaning that in order for an ordinary media player to know what the artist, album name, track numbers, etc. are, you will need some sort of MP3 tag editing software in order to add that information yourself.

What I want to know most is who on the forum will be the first to buy the Flood crop top!

I see that it's also available digitally at Amazon with all of the file info embedded correctly: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B09PJCC42F

Spun it through once. Initial thoughts:

It’s very, very good. Guy sounds awesome, Gary sounds awesome, Erik sounds awesome. The bass is more noteworthy than it has been on recent TQT albums. I do miss Ted’s awesome drumming, though. There are many moments that remind me of the first 3 TQT albums, especially in the guitar work (which is fantastic).   

The songs are pretty uniformly strong, although my favorites are the thrashier numbers. On a cursory listen, the lyrics seemed solid. I don’t know that they are quite as good as Ted at his best, but that’s a pretty high standard. It’s awesome to hear Gary involved in lyrics like this again! Praise the Lord!

I’m curious to see how this compares to G@M after I live with it for a few months. I’m also interested to compare it to the next TQT album. But so far, I’m glad to have both TQT and Flood (and Luke solo) making music, and if Flood can keep up this level of quality they’ll quickly become one of my very favorites. 

TL;DR: Polarized is a great release!

I wondered if this project meant Gary had returned to the faith. The lyrics on this are quite bold.

For those who have listened how much of the super high vocals are there?

mothy wrote:For those who have listened how much of the  super high vocals are there?

Very little from what I recall.

mothy wrote:For those who have listened how much of the  super high vocals are there?

Not much. Guy sticks with the gruff, sneering growl for the most part. I would have liked to hear more of the high stuff, but in any case, it's great to hear his voice again.

Initially after the first listen my feelings about the album were, heh, polarized.

I actually was writing a long review and went on quite a bit criticizing the mixing on drums and something else. Then I started to listen to the songs again while writing the review and that issue wasn't really that big of an issue anymore so I had to quit writing because it seemed like my opinions had changed quite a bit in the midst of writing.

I feel I have to talk about that initial impression a bit though. So, right after the first listen there were two things I didn't like.
1) Many of the songs felt like they were half good/great and half mediocre. The songs would switch too wildly in between having an awesome part here and a weak part there.
2) The drums sounded weirdly "artificial" to me. They kinda sounded like it was a drum machine. I know that some thought Gary's past couple of solo albums had a drum machine, which Gary had denied. As I was listening, the hi-hats sounded too distracting somehow. It's like they were mixed too loud or something. As we know the album has a real drummer, I thought that maybe the issue with past albums had been Gary's mixing style, and maybe David used electronic drums too. The drumming itself was great and it sounded crisp and clear but there was something in the mix that made me feel distracted, especially whenever hi-hats were played closed.

That said, I don't quite understand what my issue was as the more I've been listening the better the drums have started to sound.

What I liked during the initial listen was Guy's vocals, the lead guitars, some great riffs here and there, and a few parts where the bass guitar sounded amazing. There were about 4 or so songs that I felt excited to take another listen. At one point I even broke in tears a bit. More of that later.

So, now I've listened through the full album once, and I've listened a few songs many times and parts from other songs here and there.

I'm now going through the album and write my feelings about each of the songs, one by one.

1. DESIGN
The opening bass guitar sounded awesome in the first listen and when the song truly starts, the catchy melodic heavy metal riffing sounds great! The song has a great drive, Guy sounds AMAZING, and the chorus is really catchy (the "I see the design" line). I think Gary used George Margaritopoulos as a guest vocalist in that line. It sounds the same voice that appeared in Live Free Or Die from Gary's last solo album, and he was credited appearing on that. I kind of wish Guy was the one singing that line, but then again I really don't as George's voice (or whoever that singer is) sounds REALLY good there and fits perfectly, plus I think I can hear a hint of Guy in the some of the vocal layers there, I'm not sure though. Anyway, the last line "You are divine" got my first real goosebumps on the album.

Really good song. It's old school melodic heavy metal with REALLY good guitar solos. One of the best songs in the album.

Lyrically this song shows Gary has come back to Christian faith. Something many thought would never happen. It's got pretty bold "white metal" lyrics.

2. WAR IN THE SKY
This one is the album's first fast thrash/speed metal song. The chorus line "war in the sky" sounds a bit too much like the chorus line in the previous song. It's a pretty good song. It could be better but there are some good riffs there and and a few other great moments. I particularly like the weird vocal effects on some of Guy's vocals for some reason. The guitar solos are again FANTASTIC. Gary does some yelling vocals here too, and Guy finishes with a short falsetto.

3. THE FOUR SEASONS
Instrumental song that is a cover of a part of a classical composition made by Vivaldi. It's the "heavy metalish" part of the original composition. The guitar playing is REALLY good here!

4. DARFUR
This was originally a song made for 2050 (it was a short lived band that had Gary Lenaire, Erik Mendez, Victor Macias and Al Velasquez). While this version is very good, I think I might like the original better. This sounds WAY crispier and clearer than the original, and it has been changed here and there, but I'm not sure if those changes are for the better. I think the original song had a rather unique mood to it. It's now thrashier and longer too. Some of the changes sound quite cool. I kinda like that the verses now have faster drumming evolving into actual thrash, but then again I miss the groove the original had. This version is about 3 minutes longer and most of those minutes are this slow and haunting bluesy stuff with really cool lead guitars. Aaaaaand now as I'm listening to it, I'm not sure anymore if I like the original version better. The blues stuff during those last three minutes is really good stuff. The song is written by Gary Lenaire and Erik Mendez.

5. POLARIZED
This was written by Guy Ritter. It's a slower paced hard rock song and is closer to Echo Hollow than Tourniquet. I didn't really care for this song during the initial listen, and I still kinda don't care about the verses, but the chorus is pretty good and the acoustic ballad part in the middle is ok too. The latter half of the song has a part that sounds exactly something that could've been on an Echo Hollow record. It's the weakest song in the album. Nothing really stands out too much in this track. Well, the guitar solo is good and when the song gets mellow it's a nice listen. But the verses are something I can't get into.

6. BIOTECH BABYLON
Back to thrash/speed! It's the fastest song in the album and has one of the coolest thrash riffs Gary has ever written. Found myself grinning in excitement quite a bit when I first listened to it and I'm still grinning listening to it now. It's not a perfect track as the slower part isn't as good as what the fast parts before and after were. One of the best tracks on the album and MAN THOSE SOLOS ARE AMAZING!!! Fast and furious stuff!

7. IN REMISSION
Instrumental track made originally for 2050 (like Darfur was too). It's written by Erik Mendez.
I loved this song when it was first released back in 2005 or 2006 or so. It was a rare track and seems like it's now gone from Youtube (it contained video material of the documentary about people committing suicide by jumping off a bridge). Too bad I can't compare that version to this new one. What I remember of the original, this sounds clearer but I can't be sure if that has added to or taken something off from the original song.
In any case it's a super sad, melancholic and absolutely beautiful track. The acoustic part with clean electric lead guitar, then growing into this power ballady thing, still puts me in tears. I'm really glad this song is now part of an actual record. It's seriously one of the most beautiful things I've ever heard. One of the best songs in the album, for sure.

8. MY LAST RIDE
This feels like it could've been a heavy rock ballad on a Holy Danger album.
It's a stroke of genius to put this after In Remission, as if that song puts you nearly in tears, this one will break you. It's a really sad and melancholic track about abandoning your pet, from the point of view of the animal. Sounds odd written, but it works really well.
The song is written by Guy Ritter and he sounds really emotional here. Man, I can't hold back tears. I kinda wish Ted Kirkpatrick will eventually hear this song. I bet he would love it and would have trouble not crying. And man that guitar solo too... One of the best tracks in the album, if not THE best.

9. FREELOADING LARCENY
Back to heavier, faster and thrashier stuff.
It reminds me of some of the Holy Danger stuff but faster and thrashier. Guy does some falsetto vocal layers here too. Not a perfect track but when it's at its best it's exceptionally good! It's among my favorites.
I love both Guy's and Gary's vocals here!

10. THE ORDER OF MELCHIZEDEK
Instrumental track with heavy emphasis on bass guitar.
It's a rather odd mix of heavy metal, funk and blues. This sounds like a song that could be in some instrumental album by a heavy metal guitarist of a famous metal band. If you're familiar with Gary Lenaire's solo albums you will notice certain details that have been around in his work for the past 10 or 20 years, but if you don't think about that the overall vibe of the song is like it could be in some Marty Friedman or Chris Poland solo album. I mean, these famous guitarists often seem to make this kind of songs that are both experimental and technical in their solo projects.
It's a great track and shows the lead playing talents of Mendez and/or Lenaire. It kinda feels like it doesn't quite fit in the record, but then again it is a very good track. Experimental and genre-bending perhaps. It's very technical and showcases the playing skills of everyone involved.

11. STOP THE BLEEDING
This was originally released in Gary's solo album from 2017, No Time Now. It's a fast speed metal song.
It sounds much crispier and clearer, and the song itself has been changed a bit.
While I like the better production of this version compared to the original, the changes in the song itself haven't made the song better - it could be I'm just gotten used to the original too much though. Anyway, for me the little changes in some of the vocal lines, riffs and melodies sound weird to my ear. The original also had a riff that almost sounded like a riff from Tourniquet's Dysfunctional Domicile, but this version has changed the riff from almost sounding like that to pretty much exactly sounding like that.
As an interesting note, the original song didn't have too audible bass guitar so it took me to see Anna Sentina's video on Youtube to hear how the bass guitar really goes in the song. I was surprised to see the little details in bass playing on that song through that video. Now, with this new version you can actually hear pretty clearly those bass lines she played on that video.



My current opinion of the full album:

All in all, the sounds are crisp and clear and better than what has been in Gary's two last solo albums. I initially was distracted by the mix of the drums, but that doesn't bother me anymore except in some parts I still feel the hi-hats are too loud and front in the mix.

Guy Ritter's vocals are great and Gary's vocals sound exactly the same he has always sounded, which is great too. The lead guitar playing is absolutely top notch throughout the album. You can hear the hunger to play these kinds of solos from whoever is playing whatever solo.

Some of the songs are fully great and some have great parts in them. Sometimes the songs feel maybe too unfocused and maybe unpolished as compositions, but even in those tracks there always seem to be parts that sound good, or really good or even exceptionally good.

If you have missed Guy Ritter's vocals, you will not be disappointed.
If you have missed Gary Lenaire's yelling vocals, you will not be disappointed.
If you have missed solos by Erik Mendez, you will not be disappointed.

The drums are great too, but you can hear it's missing the special details Kirkpatrick does, so if you are wishing to hear drumming at the level of Tourniquet, that's not really there. But don't get me wrong, the drumming is very good and sometimes very technical too.

If you've missed Gary, Guy and Mendez play actual thrash metal, you will get to hear that more than what Gary, Guy and Mendez have done in their projects since leaving Tourniquet. That isn't to say the album is fully a thrash album, but many of the songs have either full on thrash parts or thrash elements. The album leans on speed metal quite a bit too, but there are a few slower tracks for people who enjoy that too. And very often the songs change the subgenre style within the songs too.

If you like catchy, melodic and melancholic melodies, there's quite a bit of that too.

It really is a mixture of Holy Danger, Tourniquet and Echo Hollow, with a bit of elements from Gary Lenaire's solo projects.
I would say that if Gary and Guy had a project in between Holy Danger and Tourniquet, and in between Tourniquet and Echo Hollow, this album would be exactly what you would imagine. What I mean is that it's clear it's not a Tourniquet album, and it's even more clear it's not an Echo Hollow album, but it has a feel that while it doesn't fit into either of those band's catalogue it does fit into the moments in between the bands.

My favorite tracks of the album are (not in order):
Design
Biotech Babylon
In Remission
My Last Ride
Freeloading Larceny

Darfur is close with them too. If it was the original version, it would definitely be up there. That's a classic in my opinion. This new version has really good thrash parts and a really nice blues ending, but I miss the thumping and pounding feeling of the original. Ok, now I'm listening to it again and the lead guitars on the bluesy last minutes again make me eat my words. Yeah, let's put Darfur as one of my favorites too! Those solos are insanely good!

Least favorite track is:
Polarized


The fastest track:
Biotech Babylon

The saddest and the most beautiful tracks:
In Remission
My Last Ride (oh man I can't believe how much I love this track)

mothy wrote:For those who have listened how much of the  super high vocals are there?

Maybe three or so tracks have a high pitched yell or two.
One song has eight lines, or so, sung in falsetto but the falsetto in those moments is not the center of the focus. The main vocal lines are sung in normal voice and the falsetto is part of the backing vocal layers. It's also not his highest falsetto (I doubt he can reach that super high voice at that age anymore) but it's kinda like a normal pitch but in falsetto. Sounds REALLY good though! Reminds me very much of some of the Holy Danger stuff.

Man I have to point it out again, the guitar solos on this album are PHENOMENAL!!!

And BIOTECH BABYLON, that song is WILD!!! Gets better the more I listen to it. The thrash riffs SMOKE and the solos are INSANE!!!

If you love FAST songs, you will love Biotech Babylon! It's among the best thrash/speed tracks Gary has ever written, I think. This song has nice little small details that might be missed during the first and the second listen because it's so fast, but the more I listen the more I find these cool little things that I end up rewinding and listening again. I love how at around minute and a half into the song there's this small break that ends very abruptly and goes back into punching your face with the drums. It kinda sounds like it's some editing error how abruptly the break ends but it works perfectly! And then later there is a nice little moment where the drum fill goes along with a cool and nasty guitar slide (around the 3:25 mark).

I hope airola gives us a review like this.  You should contribute to hevens metal or angelic warlord

No one should be surprised that Guy isn’t really using the high pitch singing much. It’s harder to do when your older. I think he’s comfortable in his mid range voice.

Although I wouldn’t mind one “full throttle” old school King Diamond style song.

Temple of Blood wrote:I hope airola gives us a review like this.  You should contribute to hevens metal or angelic warlord

Have you listened to it yet, ToB? Curious to hear your thoughts.

Notice on the song Biotech Babylon, Guy Ritter does that trademark weird vocal effect like on Broken Chromosomes. It almost sounds like a keyboard.

This sounds pretty good!  Hopefully they'll get Luke Easter for vocals on the next album