THOMAS THOMPSON EARTH PROJECT: Systematic Brain Drain
The Thomas Thompson Earth Project is back with another bit of experimental metal fury. This their 2nd release entitled Systematic Brain Drain out now on Roxx Records follows much of the same area of exploration as their prior album.
I will say that on this release Systematic Brain Drain it appears that this release is the heaviest of the two. To the uninitiated this project consists of Garret Thomas (guitars, songwriter, producer, mixer), Tiago James DeSouza guitars and vocals provided by Dale Thompson (who also wrote 90% of the lyrics.) To describe this musically I would say heavy metal written in 2020/2021, with a modern/experimental bent on song structure.
That is to say you can forget a verse, chorus, verse, chorus, guitar solo, chorus song structure. Some would say a “traditional rock song structure.” However there are some solos, even some obvious chorus’s, yet this album isn’t a quick listen. It’s either going to bowl you over like a cement mixer, or it will leave you curious about what you heard and you’ll go back and wonder if you missed something. This isn’t prog but heavy metal with a different song structure style, where the vocal is emphasized over the instrumentation. All the track’s clock in the 4-5 minutes in length.
I think at times as I’ve listened to this album over the last week or so I wish there were a few more tracks that were more immediate. Songs that have a catchier vocal melody, the “hook” if you will. Perhaps that’s my own wishful thinking, but that is what makes all music memorable to me. Dale calls his vocal tracking “first impression recording,” which has a place I believe, I do wish more structure was given and time taken. My own personal take.
Dale’s performance vocally is top notch as usual, Garret has crafted some intriguing song structures and his sound production is epic in scale at times. Tiago offers several nice solo takes. The musicianship is quality all the way through and through.
The most memorable tracks include Skeleton Bones, Cast Them Out, Game Changer and album opener Own Worst Enemy. These songs are a bit more immediate and hit a bit more directly. All Things Return fits in this category. The only comparison to Bride that can be made is Dale’s voice, musically not even in the same wheelhouse. Not as heavy as Perpetual Paranoia nor bluesy as Bride.
The production elements are stronger on this release then the debut. The drums sound better (programmed?) and all the elements sound top notch. The vocal is a little loud in the mix for me.
Fans of the first album will undoubtedly enjoy Systematic Brain Drain, as will fans of Dale Thompson’s vocal. If you were skeptical about the first release give this one a try, it’s heavier and sounds better. Grab your copy from Roxx Records today!
About Author
Hi this is Randy Swingle from Swingle and Thompson Ordained blessings to you have you had a chance to check out our new Firestorm album it was just released through roxx records also at the same time as the thomas thompson systematic brain drain and charoits album and the weapons album