Guano Records brings out yet another band, which, unfortunately, unlike some other Estonian crews such as Tharaphita, Manatark or Kalm, totally failed to impress me. Ignorabimus operate in a fairly simple setting. Essentially, this music is a sort of modernized, doomy heavy metal also adorned with some gothic overtones. The accent is placed on the mid-paced, straightforward song structures, lots of melodicism, and the interplay between two vocalists, one doing harsh and another providing clean (or as the liner notes state - "sweet") vocals. Basically, these guys attempt to be your friendly neighborhood metal band. They play it nice and safe, never try to offend and do not even attempt to do anything out of the ordinary, something that could really stir up a listener. This stuff might be enjoyable by people who like their metal easy on the ears and with a good amount of commercial accessability, but even as such, it is all too low-impact, at best an equivalent of a very minor foot note. And I am sure not many of you will take the band's lyrical canvas to your hearts. The CD starts out fair enough with a track called "Demonized." But by the album's end the band just keep bombarding you with crappy gothic lyrics on tracks such as "Ode to the Joy," "Redemption," and "Prayer." And just to end this review on a somewhat humorous note, let me quote a few lines from the song "Bazaar" just to demonstrate how silly things can get:

"There was this very ugly man
selling water-melons in his van.
‘I try to sell as much I can,
Can't help I'm such an ugly man,'
Then said this really ugly man."

There you have it. A genuine slice of life from Estonian backyards. Not exactly Shakespear, and Ignorabimus are not exactly metal's saviors. Oh well, will keep looking.

© 2003 boris