MAUDLIN OF THE WELL — My Fruit Psychobells... A Seed Combustible (review)

MAUDLIN OF THE WELL — My Fruit Psychobells... A Seed Combustible album cover Album · 1999 · Avant-garde Metal Buy this album from MMA partners
3/5 ·
Conor Fynes
'My Psychobells... A Seed Combustible' - maudlin of the Well (6/10)

Perhaps immortalized for their essential duology of albums 'Bath' and 'Leaving Your Body Map,' many fans of the group seem to forget about avant-garde metal act maudlin of the Well's debut. Although the group wouldn't release a well-rounded piece of work until the second album, the album mysteriously called 'My Psychobells... A Seed Combustible' is certainly worth looking into for the more devoted fans of the band's greater work. Sparing comparisons to other Maudlin records however, 'Psychobells' stands as being a very interesting record, despite having far too many flaws in it's production and execution to be anything really great.

'Psychobells' can be looked at from one of two ways; first as an exceptional demo, and secondly as a flawed album. Keep in mind that there is no short supply of brilliant composition here; maudlin of the Well had already developed their charming sense of 'weirdness' early on, and Toby Driver's brilliance is shown early on. However, the way the album was produced leaves a bit too much to be desired. While production quality is rarely of heavy importance to underground recordings, the garage-style sound of the album really hinders the otherwise strong compositions. Especially when using headphones, there is far too much of a treble presence in the mix, and it makes the sound seem very two dimensional and shrill. The songs at times cut off and unexpectedly segue into a new one, which seems more like a production error over a mere way to be 'avant.'

The performance of the music is alright, and while 'Bath' improved things greatly, 'Psychobells' isn't deterred by any significant instrumental errors. The vocals of Toby Driver himself though, seem very weak here, at times even sounding off-key; the rest of the vocal work here (both growls and female clean) are admirable and functional.

In any case, the trademark instrumentation of the band should be enough to get fans listening to this album. The album shows Maudlin's ability to merge psychedelic and metal influences as one, and make for a completely unique listening experience. While I consider this to only be an 'extended demo' of sorts for the group, maudlin of the Well shows promise here, and a potential that would be realized with 'Bath.'
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