The Featured Demo Review:
Band Name: Ka
Demo Title: EP2
Band Members: Troy Butero: Bass/Backing Vocals, Ryan Charles: drums, Michael Brandenburg: Guitars/Vocals
Location: Milwaukee, WI

Rating: 4 Skulls

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    • Blind's Review:
    Let's get right to the meat of Ka, okay? That would be the last track of this three-song demo. That song, entitled "Topiad .01," kicks some major ass. It sounds like a track that Slayer or The Haunted would have written, but the problem with it stems from the fact that it sounds like Ka has Chris Jericho (Fozzy) on vocals. Jericho might have been good (for a few laughs) with his ripoff of hair metal, but for hard rock/thrash, he is not intended. Still, quite a solid effort on Ka's part.

    Ka got a big time producer, Trevor Sadler (Nine Inch Nails, Ministry), behind the board, and it shows. The production is top notch-a relief considering the underwater quality of many demos.

    As for the other two tracks, Ka really sounds like a thrash metal band trying to do hard rock. The guitars have some serious crunch, and the drummer sounds relatively competent. Throughout the disc, I was expecting the band to break into some galloping rhythms and double bass assault, but it just didn't happen. I was left feeling as if I had to sneeze but couldn't - kind of incomplete. It is interesting to note the song titles of Ka's previous release. Some are "Dragon Corpse Graveyard," "Retard God," and "Autopsy of a Solipsist." Sounds metal to me. See their website for more examples.

    The second track sounds much like something on Death's The Sound of Perseverance. Clean vocals instead of yelling, and no double bass. The potential is there. I want to scream at Ka and FORCE them to play metal... The band is good, but it could be fantastic if it perfected its craft instead of trying to be hard rock. (Note: the press release claims that this is hard rock; I'm not just arbitrarily making claims.)

    All in all, EP2 is worth a quick listen-not to mention it's only three bucks on the band's web site. Let's hope Ka realizes its potential and starts pummeling the skins and strings!
    4 out of 5

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