Legend Of the Seagullmen is a strange beast but in a good way to a point and when it comes to writing this review I’m hesitant to write the word “Super Group” because in my own experience it can tend to be a little bit of a hit and miss affair. The aforementioned band consists of Brent Hinds of Mastodon Fame, director Jimmy Hayward of “Jonah Hex”, “Horton Hears a who”, Pete Griffin of “Dethklok”, “Zappa Plays Zappa” and by no means least Danny Carey of Tool fame.
Now to give you some idea of what we are dealing with here, the press release states the following “Joining forces to make cinematic psychedelic rock, the Seagullmen sing of ship wrecks and giant mutant squid, crafting conceptual rock ‘n’ roll hymns of epic proportions!” If that doesn’t pique your interest I don’t think much will. Now it must be stated that in my humble opinion this is very much a “Mood” record and at your first attempt may be a little to get into and may take a couple of listens to understand what direction this album is coming from but persevere my dear readers.
Kicking off proceedings with the opening track with “We Are The Seagullmen” and at the 31 second mark you can instantly hear Danny Carey‘s trade mark drumming as well as Brent Hind‘s trade mark sound and fuzzed out guitars. Track 4 “Curse Of The Red Tide” starts off as a slow acoustic tune that builds into a fast galloping riff driven monster. Now it doesn’t need to be spelled out but I will assume the theme around this album is nautical based with songs like the slow burning psychedelic rock number “The Orca” and while I respect and admire these musicians and their respective bands immensely, it is difficult what to make of this album in it’s entirety and that is a bit of a let down.
While the trade mark sounds are on show in absolute spades, a Mastodon or Tool album 2.0 this is NOT and that needs to be made very clear if I’m very blunt and honest. This album is a good time record almost bordering on cartoonish with lots of twists and turns that keep you guessing but it’s more of a time filler then an out of the gates classic must have and in places it feels a little disjointed to my ears. Anyway the moral of the story here is that some times the chemistry and feel of a band really works well and shines and sometimes it can go the complete opposite way, this just sits somewhere in the middle. By all means have a listen out of curiosity if nothing else but no need to run and grab this release, however maybe round 2 will be a little more understood. 6 out of 10 from me.
TRACKLIST
We Are the Seagullmen
The Fogger
Shipswreck
Curse of the Red Tide
Legend of the Seagullmen
The Orca
Rise of the Giant
Ballad of the Deep Sea Diver
