Review by Saxy S for Blotted Science - The Machinations of Dementia (2007)

Well if it isn't my old friend Ron Jarzombek once again!

I must admit, I thought that as I was getting older my ears were not as great as they once were, but one playthrough of Blotted Science's only full length album, The Machinations of Dementia and I already knew which guitarist had their handprints plastered all over this record. This record is certainly not my cup of tea, but I can see potential for an album like this if it had that missing piece to put it all together. It needs a melodic line or a vocalist to keep the guitar wanking in check instead of allowing for it to go unchecked for almost an hour. The records first two tracks have some solid foundational work put into them and they sound like fully developed songs. Basically everything else falls into this empty void of impressive showmanship, but leaves me with nothing else to talk about. 

And what pains me the most is that songs like "Narcolepsy" have worked for me in the past, but once again, this one is missing one important piece to connect the parts together. I am referring to Between the Buried and Me's Colors from the same year. Structurally, they are nearly identical records, but Ron Jarzombek and company don't have the songwriting chops to do anything other than guitar solo for an entire album. By the time the eight minute track "Activation Synthesis Theory" was complete, I just wanted this thing to be over. There is only so much I can say about an album that does not evolve or reinvent. 

Best Songs: Synaptic Plasticity, Laser Lobotomy, E.E.G. Tracings, The Insomniac