Prince Valium

Dispensing "nu-metal" guitar riffs assaults, Medication offer hypnotics and infectious songs. Prince Valium benefits from a group of 'super musicians' that work to expertise fine tunes. Despite the backgrounds of each member of the band - Whit Crane, formerly of Ugly Kid Joe & Logan Mader, formerly of Machine Head - they have forged their own sound, dissolving all the elements of their musical heritage and playing a kind of Tool meets Rob Zombie - I said a kind of :) The "valium atmosphere" governs this album. The early '90s feel - Alice In Chains - permeates Medication's distorted sound. Balanced by "faster" tempo & atmospheric bright passages, the pounding solos rescue them from any 'grunge' tags or the traditional 'nu-metal' squad. Actually, the well-constructed tunes are gradually dissipating the first 'nu-metal' sentiment and initiate the listener into a brand new musical world. All in all, Prince Valium represents the future of the heavy music, pointing very much in the direction of Tool - an aggressive Tool machine. Medication’s straight on entry into the heavy-rock kingdom should be seen as something of a pleasant revolution. Combining delectable melodies with driving guitars and wide-ranging vocals - Whit Crane on vocals does a f*cking great job - Medication carved their "own beautiful niche for themselves". The potential talent on the group’s self-titled EP has been expanded on Prince Valium, offering a huge range of variety in both song writing and music. From the harmonious to the truly heavy guitar riffs, Medication prove their worth by assaulting our senses with a scorching collection of tunes : atmospheric, heavy, electric, depressive, hyper-slow and sometimes gothic. The opening Loaded Gun knocks straight through the wall, achieved with that dirty sleazy vocal from Whit Crane. Darker, heavier anthems are pinned to this first album - with excellent tracks like Something New, False Idol, Walk Away, Super Pop or Xanax – all rightfully heavy and menacing. On the other hand, Medication are also able of more than depressed tormented rock songs : check the groovy Nothing Left & No Direction, the tortured Prince Valium, the Rob Zombie touch on Now and Again or on End Of Ends. The splendid power ballad Underground is another impressive song writing lesson where Crane scorches me. Although I have never been a fan of Ugly Kid Joe - never !!! - and although I found the attitude of Logan Mader very treacherous in the past, Medication deserve your full attention ... especially if you are a fan of Tool, Down, Rammstein or Rob Zombie ... keeping in mind Medication have developed their own style, their own music. Finally a band that brings something new and has the courage - not to say the balls - to try new paths. Well done guys.