Surgyn - Vanity

Days where I end up having to review nothing but shite are always countered afterwards by days like this. Days that quite simply, piss Rainbows. When I reviewed the demo of 'Vanity' earlier this year, I simply knew that Surgyn would be signed. Less than a month later, this Medical themed act have had the bandages removed, and been madeover and unveiled as a Deathwatch Asia act - a fact made ironic that the label have previously released albums that I compared the demo to, and even more Ironic that this CD falls back into my hands to re-review.

I won't spend the entire time putting this on a huge pedestal, my review of the demo has already done that, and the link to your right will direct you to the earlier review.
I'm going to talk about the improvements, for they are vast and many. The monochrome and deliberatly lifeless artwork offers a glaring contrast, this time with a Mirror dominating the artwork, which in turn has been contributed by the famous and very talented Vlad, over at Kallisti Design.

The ambient and instrumental opener, 'Beauty' is suffixed by the deeply catching 'Sever' - one of my top three Surgyn tracks, and the one with perhaps the second most memorable melody, after new track 'Sharp as Stars' (to be discussed later).
The other new track to this release is '400', located directly after 'Sever', which is still a classic after the 20th listen.

I don't find '400' to be a stand out track, but it adds very well to the album, and seems to stitch up any gaps, in a fantastically twisted use of conceptual Irony.

Surgyn's strongest, and most endearing trait is their ability to make this album humorous and tongue-in-cheek, yet remain perfectly likeable without becoming a joke. The album is quite heavy on the gore and medical style samples, and several tracks feature the voice of the demented doctor from Bioshock.
This works so well because the idea of using Video Games as sample material is still relatively rare in comparison to movies, and the deranged absurdity of some of his quotes just fits beautifully with the Surgyn manifesto. The samples on 'Haemorrhage' still make me chuckle, yet I don't discredit the seriousness of the band at any time.

The touched up mastering, the track order, and the addition of the final track before the remixes (the aforementioned 'Sharp As Stars') goes a long way to making this album one that you'd expect to see sat on a Podium of best sellers, and can you blame it, when you listen to the final new track? The chorus just shines (groan), and this act is not going to sit still and wait a few years before subjecting us to more operations.

At the end of the disc, the talented Method Cell deliver a sublime remix of 'Sever', Soman also tackles it in the usual distinguishable manner, and Phosgore takes on 'Speak No More'.

The biggest possible criticism here is that the vocals may not be for everyone, I've heard various people say they aren't sure about them, but like Surgyn themselves say on 'The Stranger' :
"What's Righteous to me is Abhorrent to You".

You could pick any track on here and feel at home, but if you want a good starting point, go for 'Sever', 'Hit The Nerve', 'Sharp as Stars' 'Haemorrhage', or maybe even 'Pressure' from the 'Hit the Nerve EP'. Sep 07 2011