When death metal jazz pioneers Pestilence disbanded after their fourth album ‘Spheres’ in 1993, guitarist Patrick Mameli waited for 14 years to return with a new project which is now known under C-187 (refers to the California Penal Code section for murder in the first degree). The band consists of ex-Atheist bassist Tony Chou, ex-Death and Cynic drummer Sean Reinert and former Mnemic vocalist Tony Jelencovich.
“The band seems like a continuation of Pestilence (NOT!)”, with Mameli’s distinctive Alan Holdsworth influenced sound and some modern metal elements as well. Mamali stated that he never touched a guitar until the new project had begun ! He went to see Cynic and his fellow band members, and immediately wanted to do the whole thing again.
C-187 recorded an album called “Collision” under Mascot records in 2007 !
I was personally not pleased with it ! I expected epic music from such talented musicians ! Let’s face it, Sean Reinert played on Death’s “Human” and he kicked ass on that one; Tony Choue is well known for being a pretty damn funky and powerful bassist with the legendary Atheist ; and Mameli has talent and he showed it with Pestilence in the old days. So what happened here? These guys recorded a GANGSTA metal album, a sort of album that you’d expect from beginners or from people who sell albums for 12 year old rappers who happen to start liking rock ! Major disappointment over here , and that’s sad…
No offense to Gangsta Rap Metal fans, but when such musicians get together, one would expect an epic progressive jazz fusion metal ‘you name it’ release !
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OVL9WVQNuQg]
Experimenting is one thing and ruining your reputation is another one, and I guess every metalhead had the same opinion about this release, although the musicianship is remarkable and there’s a good vibe going on (duh?) but the style is far from unique and far too generic to be played by such people. So my whole opinion is based on expectations not on the actual product that doesn’t suck, but still doesn’t have CLASSIC written all over it.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nusMgDFMvVA]
Let’s hope that the band listens to metal fans and change their approach or else they will struggle to build a growing fan base.
Band’s Myspace: http://www.myspace.com/c187band
