Welcome to the EvO:R Independent CD Reviews Section.
I would like to take a few minutes to introduce ourselves to everyone. The EvO:R review section features reviews from various independent musicians that submit material for our consideration.

I wanted to let you know a little about our review teams collective thoughts on music. It's important to let the people that we review know how we think of their music and how we listened to their creations.

First of all, we strongly believe that if your music stinks then the world should know about it! After all, you have the nerve to charge as much for your stuff as the majors do so it better be pretty damn good. If your material is good, we'll be glad to tell the world. I We will hold nothing back! That is a promise.
The EvO:R CD Review Team

Pariah Poetic is truly an independent band. The music does not find itself under such easy labels as Rock, Pop-Rock, Alternative, Alternative Rock and so on. They do steal from all the listed labels but never lay claim to any one in particular. This lack of being genre labeled is great if you want to be and indie artist until you die suddenly or your parents kick you out of the house so you have to find a real job to make ends meet. There is nothing wrong with being an indie, I've been one for 30 years. I love the freedom to do as I please and I never have to worry about pleasing anyone but myself. I just don't like the money.

The band has a couple really unique things going for it already. A great vocalist, intellectual lyrical content, good musicians (that are still growing musicially) and the ability to write some pretty good songs.

One thing I promised I would not do was review songs on a song by song basis and I won't here but I will say this. The first song of any (indie) CD should be a hook, a song that motivates the listener to want to hear more. Nobody knows who you are and by not having a kick your tail song to open your CD could mean you never get listened to. 'Cardiac Arrest' the first song from Pariah Poetic's - Of Nature disc does just that. Hard hitting intro that leads the listener right into the song and when the song ends your looking forward to the next song. The singers voice is very distinguished and rather unique while having plenty of vocal range to work in and out of many somewhat complex musical arrangements (more about that next). The bass player and drummer work together like a right and left hand while the guitar is left free to roam around throughout many of the songs.

If I could make ONE observation. I think the band has tried to be impressive musically but at the expense of some really good song opportunities. A great song has always been one that when stripped to its core would still have a wonderful song inside. Track 4, 'Mirror' was about the only song by this band that I feel could survive the stripped to the core treatment.

Last week I was extremely ill and was watching a DVD tribute to George Harrison. The stage was filled with some of the best musicians in the world with some 15 guitar players, 4 drummers, 4 keyboard players and a full orchestra. Paul McCartney comes on stage with a ukulele and plays the first verse of 'Something'. Then after the first verse the whole band and orchestra kicked in and finished this wonderful song. The point is, the song was great even without 50 professional musicians playing their individual parts. That is what makes great songs. That is also what sells CDs and downloads. Even progressive rock bands like Dream Theater could actually be stripped down to a simple chord and melody format (not that I would want them to do that) but the idea is that melody is always FIRST, riffs and cool arpeggios second.

The CD cover did not provide much information about how, who and where the CD was recorded but it did mention the recording was at Solstice Audio (but no city or state) and production by the band and Ryan Freeman with mastering done at Sound Bites Dog (no details).

With that said, let me give kudos to the sound engineer. Every instrument was well placed within the mix and the vocals where perfect. I might have asked the guitar player to color his tone with more variety. I felt like his sound was almost predictable at times and maybe a little work on tone, mic placement, mic type and better use of a few effects could have enhanced my listening experience. Grab a remastered copy of Led Zepplin II and study every song with relationship of the guitar sound to the rest of the mix. Jimmie Page was a master in the studio and his sound was heavy, yet clean and crystal clear (even if he was a bit sloppy on the Heartbreaker solo).

I spent more time reviewing what the band could be doing to be better then I did review the actual CD. That was because I feel this band has so much potential. They just need to concentrate on creating great songs, not just cool songs to impress there friends. Your friends will never buy your CD and they always expect free tickets to your shows. Go write great songs and the masses will follow you.

Song Samples from the CD
All song samples are from the Band I Tunes Page

1 Cardiac Arrest Pariah Poetic 3:00
2 Deviate Demonic Pariah Poetic 4:09
3 Radiation Reception Pariah Poetic 5:22
4 Mirror Pariah Poetic 3:16
5 Acclamation Pariah Poetic 2:44
6 Remixolydian Pariah Poetic 5:03
7 Eulogy Pariah Poetic 3:44
8 Immaculate Pariah Poetic 3:07
9 Alligator Pariah Poetic 5:32
10 4 Movements Pariah Poetic 4:16

Conclusion:

I usually listen to a CD about 4-5 times before I review it. I listened to this band about 20 times before I even started making my notes. Pariah Poetic has so much potential that I just couldn't stand it. They still need some work but they have such a huge upside it's rediculous.

Charlie Harrelson...EvO:R Founder and CD Reviewer.

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