A Perfect Circle

Mer de Noms

Hey, who is this guy Billy Howerdel anyway?

Review Score:

(8/10)
Like seemingly half the rest of the planet, I hadn't heard the name of Billy Howerdell before digging into my copy of Mer de Noms. However, I had (again like everyone else) heard of Maynard James Keenan. And I'm thankful, because Howerdell is a talented man and I don't know how long it would have taken me to notice him otherwise. It was ultimately a good step to have such a recognizable frontman for this new group despite the inevitable backlash; it allowed Maynard to show more of what he's capable of apart from the deranged thrash-fury screaming he displays in Tool, and it gave APC a widespread recognition it probably never would have gotten otherwise.. and which it richly deserves. Hard rock rarely sounds so dark and yet so sweet at the same time. Occasionally it gets cranked up to the level of proto-metal fury (as in the widely-misunderstood "Judith") but for the most part it's one soothing/disturbing nocturne after another, and it's disappointing to hear the end after a too-quick 45 minutes. Apart from the usual guitar-bass-drum setup, a couple tunes are toned down enough to include a soothing violin. "Over" closes things out with only a simple piano and gord (whatever the heck that is), though it doesn't quite have as much melody as the others. Another oddity is a noticeable preference for 3/4 time signatures.. but that's just a small adjustment to make.

Maynard likes using strange imagery and obscure references in his lyrics, so it's not really surprising that Mer de Noms is full of literary ties and biblical names. (The album title means, after all, 'Sea of Names.') It might take an English major to figure out what all of it means, but since the music is so entrancing it hardly matters. Imagine a seamless blending of King Crimson's hard-rocking crunch, Pink Floyd's subdued dreaminess, Brian Eno's atmospheric sensibility, Queensryche's knack for melody and the gloomy slowburn of Fates Warning's most recent albums. A Perfect Circle may remind me of all those characteristics at times, but there's never any doubt that they're an entity all their own. Billy also expertly handles the production and co-mixing - another testament to what an unknown talent he is. The recording is crisp and full, engrossing enough to full your whole listening space and yet clear enough to allow you to pick out any instrument at any time. I realize there are a lot of well-recorded discs out there, but it's not often that I (not an audiophile by any means) notice it this much.

Mer de Noms is a thing of dark beauty, excellently produced and with a strangely addictive quality that's hard to escape from. A couple members have since changed (unfortunately including Paz, who provided the violin and female vocals), but nonetheless I still wait with growing anticipation for their next album currently in progress. This is a group I'd hate to miss.

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