### Minsk: Out of a center which is neither dead nor alive

#### 16/05/07 || The Duff

My first taste of this band came with its 2007 release, “The Ritual Fires of Abandonment”. I reviewed that album for the site, and may have mentioned in my review that I thought it to display a band that hadn’t developed into its full potential. Well, this effort here sure as fuck proves me wrong, as it turns out that “The Ritual…” was simply a poor album in terms of what Minsk were capable of just prior (both albums are separated by merely a two year gap). Not that Minsk’s latest is a bad album (far from it), but some of the inconsistent song-writing and almost emasculated guitars (due in part to the less than sharp production) left something to be desired at times.

Now what we get with “Out of a Center…” (congrats on yet another awesome album title) is something of a more unbridled nature, and yet with songs that tie in together far more successfully, even though the songwriting appears even less focused than on this band’s latest. The guitars are far more prominent too, and appear much more defined, which goes a long way in being able to appreciate this stuff even more, as the listener is treated to some actual riffs for a change.

The vocals also come across as superior on this album, as on top of the Scott Kelly-type stuff and the clean vocals, we also have some almost black metal rasps inserted into this band’s brand of brew, which at times adds a great deal of emotion, as well as some more variety to the tunes on the whole; also of some help is the fact that they’ve been drawn back in the mix so as to be made far less domineering, meaning that they act more as a means to add a little flavor to the music as opposed to the full-on, pretty much leading role they played on “The Ritual Fires of Abandonment”.

That’s essentially what this album achieves which its successor failed upon; although the songs suggest a band not quite as mature (some sections seriously need abbreviating in parts, and at times I seriously begin to wonder just how many fucken intros/slow build-ups leading up to each song you really need on an album), they appear a lot more complete, and flow together as one unit far more successfully – quite a necessity in this sub-genre, if you ask me. The music is also far more emotive, which is of an equally important nature, for although one may always appreciate the riffs on a Neurosis album, what one really looks for is something that makes the hair on your balls/comprising your pubis (no gender bias here!) stand up on end it moves you so much – “The Ritual Fires of Abandonment” was lacking somewhat in this domain, whereas “Out of a Center…” has that emotional flare in droves (in no small part due to the improved production on the vocals).

The rest of what encapsulates the Minsk sound on “Out of a Center Which is Neither Dead Nor Alive” is essentially the same at the core, so I won’t go much into detail for fear of repeating myself to those who have already read my review of “The Ritual Fires of Abandonment”. For those of you who haven’t, just read the first couple of paragraphs of said review to get the general idea of what these guys sound like – for those of you who can’t be fucked, Minsk sound like Neurosis. For those of you who don’t know Neurosis (but for fuck’s sake!), tribal drums, long-winded guitar passages conjuring soundscapes etc., heavy, pendulous, downtuned riffs and ballsy vocals are the main ingredients to be found when approaching a Minsk album.

Finally, this album doesn’t have any useless instrumentals; it’s all six complete tracks that bring something great to the table. Oh, and the band still makes use of a SAXOPHONE on track “Wisp of Tow”; got this one wrong on the review of “The Ritual…”, thinking it was a trumpet. At least I nailed it as a brass instrument, and not a wind instrument… LIKE YOUR MOTHER’S VAGINA!

Hahahaha! Back o’ the net!

So, in short, a slightly better album for the genre it’s released under, “Out of a Center…” still only scores about the same due to the less focused/slightly long-winded songs (primarily the long-assed introductions to each track). Also, this album hasn’t drawn me in quite as much as “The Ritual Fires of Abandonment” – I appear less inclined to listen to it all that often (this may have something to do with the new Neurosis grabbing me by the balls); still a very good album that comes recommended to those into this kind of stuff.

7 wind instruments out of 10.

- Information
- Released: 2003
- Label: Spikefarm
- Website: www.thesoundofminsk.com
- Band
- Sanford Parker: vocals
- Tim Mead: synth
- Christopher Bennett: guitars
- Sanford Parker: bass
- Tony Wyjoming: drums

- Tracklist
- 01. Waging War on the Forevers
- 02. Narcotics and Dissecting Knives
- 03. Holy Flower of the North Star
- 04. Three Hours
- 05. Bloodletting and Forgetting
- 06. Wisp of Tow