Review: Altered Paradox - Silent Horror


*Disclaimer: I do have a cameo on this album. But it is minimal and has no effect on the music (which is why they let me do it!)*



Cleveland Ohio's Altered Paradox offers sludgey distorted metal awash in atmospheric fuzz. An abandoned waste barrel of screechy whispered commentary and yowelled what-the-fuckisms. It's like you're trapped in a dark chamber and you hear beating on the other side of the wall. Like they're trying to get out. But you're in and they're out. But your in is their out. I'm not metal-ly enough to go too deep into histrionics or genre-gazing, but I'm hardly inexperienced with such sounds. I know heavy shit when I hear it. Altered Paradox is HEAVY. And they're really damned good. 

Altered Paradox is not here to reinvent the (metal) wheel, but you could hardly accuse them of patching an old tire. More like they wanna try every shape that wheel can be banged and dented into. They will ride on those obtuse angles and relish every bump and pothole and rock and flip that shit and not even care. Because they fucking glued wheels to the roof! Put simply, this music demands your attention and deserves better than my poorly conceived wheel metaphors.

Silent Horror is bustling with ideas. Schizophrenically exciting. I'm listening to "The Entity Beyond" for like the tenth time but I'm still being surprised by it. Which is crazy when you consider the fucking song is stuck in my head! The skill of the players involved is beyond impressive. The guitar work is the first to grab ya, slippery one minute and chunky the next and then just damn rawkin' with a memorable riff attack. Then you realize that you hear the rhythm section POUNDING. Like you just accepted it as your personal soundtrack. As if it's fucking normal to live like this! Damn, how all y'all do that? The lyrics are bonkers and scary and sometimes kinda sad and delivered so earnestly. Paradox and company are skilled at mixing ingenuity with ridiculousness without being annoying or too "clever" for their own good. I dig that. 


Altered Paradox supplied me with a review download, but when Silent Horror comes out on May 26th, I'm buying it. Great music needs to be supported and celebrated and I need more of it in my collection. -Harmless


Altered Paradox on Bandcamp 

Altered Paradox on Facebook

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