Search - Tourniquet :: Pathogenic Ocular Dissonance

The Magnum Opus of Jesus metal

Deron Baker | Winter Park, FL | 12/26/2005

(5 out of 5 stars)

"When people name off the great metal albums of all time, you often see stuff like Reign in Blood, Master of Puppets, or Paranoia. You won't see anyone talk about this album. Perhaps because Tourniquet is "too bold" in their lyrics or perhaps people have preconceived notions of "Christian rock". But whatever the reason, Pathogenic Ocular Dissonance remains perhaps the most underrated album of all time. There are those fans of the niche genre of Jesus metal that consider this to be the greatest Christian Metal album of all time, and I'd have to agree with them.



Firstly, the production values on this album are phenomenal. The sound quality of the recording is absolutely fantastic and beyond most other albums I've heard. They spent a lot of time fine-tuning the sound and the engineers did an excellent job in mixing it. What we get is a very refined sound, which works very well for this albums's highly technical nature (technical music and lyrics). Of particular note, Ted Kirkpatric is highly skilled and his drumming comes through very clear on this album.



The songs are best described as speed/thrash metal mixed in with a good measure of progressive metal. Even a small hint of industrial can be heard. It's not an industrial metal album, but I can see how industrial fans may enjoy this. Tourniquet's songwriting has really peaked with this album. They can change up tempos and introduce non-traditional melodies into each of their songs. The music is not as overtly thrash or intense as their previous album, instead it's a bit more subtle. This is the sign of a band that is confident in their writing, and it reflects in each and every songs. The music is catchy, technical, powerful, and varied; 4 aspects that make for a great album.



I cannot fully explain why this album is so great. It's a gut feeling that's come about from listening to this album for 14 years. This album stands the test of time and can go toe-to-toe with anything that's made today.

"

Cutting-edge prog/technical speed metal

Scott E. Bach | MO | 02/18/2003

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Mere words cannot do this great disc justice, but here goes anyway. Drummer and main lyricist Ted Kirkpatrick incorporates his knowledge of medical equipment into the everyday events of human life (Impending Embolism, Spectrophobic Dementia, Phantom Limb), tying them into mankind's need for physical, spiritual, and emotional healing from the hand of God. Several Bible lessons are on hand through the suffering of Job (Theodicy on Trial), to Samson (En Hakkore). To round out the CD is his piece de resistance, The Skeezix Dilemma, tackling the not-much-discussed issue of child abuse. Thinking man's metal from the God Who says, "Let us reason together." Enjoy."