This is Shawn from the Concrete Wasteland podcast and I am here with a rare treat. I got my hands on the Therapeutic Destruction LP from Concrete Wasteland's own Nate Bohnet. It is due to be released on bandcamp later this month.
There's a concept throughout the album that doesn't correlate to the music itself, but more the message the music's delivery . Nate delivers his music under the concept that music is a tool of therapy and he touches on very personal subjects to help him combat these demons; and thats a concept that I personally relate to. The mix itself is pretty good; the mix itself is well balanced, and his guest appearances blend well with the rest of the track and don't take away from him as a musician.
I did notice that every now and again there were blips in the timing, but if you weren't an experienced musician it would be tough to distinguish that. The clean vocals are great, but in some songs they came off a little dry, and stuck out a little more than they should have.
Now for something new: a track by track generalization to determine a rating.
1. Breaking Through the Walls: My biggest complaint about the opening track "Breaking Through the Walls", in the clean singing section. While there was nothing wrong with the delivery of the section itself; i felt it took away from the energy and the presence of the song. Good album opener. 6.5/10
2. The Sensation of Falling: Keeps up the drive from the first track. Great Blythe style screams throughout and the cleans compliment nice. 9/10
3. Chaotic (Ft Regan Mayer of The Avulsion/Bring Your Own Bodies): Another groovy track, but with more chaotic undertones. Regan absolutely delivers with the vocals. 9.5/10
4. The Infinite Struggle (Ft. Tokey and Pete Mercer of Nuclear Oath): The first of 2 rap collabs. Tokey delivers his parts with vigor. Pete and Nate accent well. 8.5/10
5. Blight of the Mind (Ft. Colton Charette of Raising the Ruins/The Avulsion, and Cesar Hicken): A very ambient and groove driven with Cesar delivering an unsettling keyboard track. Great vocal work by Colton. A personal favorite. 10/10
6. Ships in the Sky: A lot of emotion in the clean sections, relatively slow tempo, great song, well crafted solo. 10/10
7. The Painted World: Nice slow intro, explodes into a well crafted song. Relatable themes 8.5/10
8. Serpents Tongue (Ft. Nathan Tras h of World Class White Trash): Trash and Nate mesh beautifully. Very aggressive. Me likey. A personal favorite 10/10
9. Suicidal Illusions (Ft Pete Mercer of Nuclear Oath): Plays exactly like a groovy Nuclear Oath track. Does not disappoint. 8/10
10. My Liberation (Ft Kelson James): The second of two rap features. Its a mellow track, but the Kelson James' emotion is enough to drive it forward 8/10
11 Silence Falls (Ft As A Vessel): A softer intro followed by explosive chorus to drive the song along. Kevin (As A Vessel) leads the charge on vocals. Beautiful song, easily a favorite. 10/10
12. Hollow (Ft. Chris Saunders of The Reckless Heroes): The spoken word intro kind of turned me off at first. Glad I stuck around. Nate's best clean performance. Beautiful guitar work from Chris Saunders 7/10
13. Homeward Bone (Ft. Micah Kutzley): A beautiful chorus delivered by Micah. Segues from Hollow well. The dynamic between heavy and beauty is apparent, which i love. Chorus gets repetitive though sadly which kept it from being the best song on the album. 9/10
14. Covered in Stone (ft Chandler Weinkauf of For A Life Unburdoned): Feels like an album closer. Fun fact: Recycled from old Illusion of Daylight riffs that Nate wrote and were never used. Best thing from that era of our musical endeavor. Cleans get a little screechy. Brilliant solo from Chandler. 8.5/10
Overall: 8.5/10
Album Link - https://natebohnet.bandcamp.com/album/therapeutic-destruction
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