Originally written by Kris Yancey
Okay, I came into this album with some expectations; some were met, and others missed well below the mark.
Who told Negative Reaction vocalist Ken E. Bones that he was allowed to change his delivery? I’m not saying Under the Ancient Penalty wasn’t without its vocal flaws, but at least then the sound was something along the lines of Corporate Death from Macabre after a few too many shots of everclear. Now it’s bits and pieces of bad vocals all over the place. Ken switches between the shrill shrieks and grating pitch I’d come to remember them by, noises that must have been made following a chicken bone lodged in the throat, and outright shouting at the top of his lungs.
I am well aware that doom metal doesn’t necessarily have the most accessible vocals ever, but there is a line, and Negative Reaction crossed that line and then some on Tales from the Insomniac.
It’s absolutely crippling, considering the instrumental aspects of Negative Reaction’s daunting doom is simple, catchy, and brutal. I’ll admit, I headbanged to this record. I headbanged a lot, in fact. Take “The Ancient Secret of War.” Better yet, take “Wildchilds Dillusion” if you really want to see Negative Reaction take a great crack at some face stomping doom. But Jesus’ buttery biscuits, those fucking vocals kill this CD: made worse considering they’re the most prominently produced aspect of the album.
This band is memorable for a very wrong reason, and I think they could be awesome if they got themselves a different vocalist. I’m not suggesting they get themselves a death grunt vocalist like every extreme band nowadays, but…ah, fuck it, that is what I’m saying. At least then I could probably stomach this a little better.
