Frequently, I already have heard some music from the band I have to review, but F.O.B. was something completely different. For those who don’t know the band, it’s an extreme band from the Czech Republic, and started out in 1995. Allright, we have a band that’s been playing and releasing albums for about 9 years, that should promise some quality right? The music is described by the term Schizo Blast Death Metal. The album is called Follow The Instructions, and came out late 2003. I don’t know why we got this album, because we received it about 1.5 years after the release date. However, we at Metalrage review everything we can lay our hands on, so here it goes.

 

First of all, I expected a real schizophrenic blasting outburst, but my joy quickly faded away after the first song. Is this it? The drum sound is very badly recorded and really misses out on the album. I think the vocals are quite allright because the voice is very strong and nicely recorded, in comparison to the drum sound that is! The music describes itself not really as blasting death metal. I would say some sort of down-tuned punk which I never heard before. That’s a point about F.O.B. I really admire, their originality because the songs do have something special when you listen to them. I, personally, do not dig this kind of music. I must say it’s quite technical and you really have to attend to the music, or else you’ll probably miss out half of the structures they play. A nice example would be the songs Whiteness, The Horse Blow Job and The Mask.

 

Allright what can I say about this? First of all, it’s heard they’re playing for almost 10 years. The music is nicely set up and quite technical. Secondly, the originality is quite high because I still don’t know which band I should compare this to. It features thrashy, heavy metallish parts, but also somewhat more up-tempo. What I don’t like about the album is the production, which is really terrible to listen to. The drum sound is way too softly recorded and the vocals are rising above everything. The guitar/bass falls behind the vocals and that’s the style on the whole album. To conclude it, a nice album with a lot of originality and playing skills, but with a production that’s too bad to let your bone-aged granny rattle in her coffin!

 

1: Neverending Projection

2: The Mask

3: Whiteness

4: Reality

5: Instrumental – In Progress

6: Time Runs So Slowly

7: The Horse Blow Job

8: The Judge

9: Emotional Sadomasochistic

10: Indian Fall (Instrumental)

 

Line Up:

Jiri Kovarik 'Coach' - Vocals, Guitar
Jiri Benes 'Bendis' - Lead Guitar
Tomas Kotrba 'Corbow' - Bass Guitar, Backing Vocals
Martin Volny 'Marty' - Drums