Cut Yourself In Half - Mekkanizm

For this heavy, slightly stoner-metal band hailing from... Bradford, there are promising shoots of green growth. The key to Mekkanizm is the schizophrenic singing, going from smooth mystique to throat-tearing noise at a whim. Once the balance is lost, however, so are their powers.

'Little Misadventure' sees that combination put to great use, recalling the chemistry which Josh Homme and Nick Oliveri once had in Queens of the Stoneage. The riffs are heavy, the lyrics dark and inventive and there is an abundance of melody to be found covered in the dirt. 'Viracocha' is where the album turns, the psycho is let totally loose on the world, and the results sound like a chainsaw in a blender - the perfect advert for throat lozenges if ever they should need to cash in.

The desert rock fun in the first half of the album is good enough to stick with you, particularly on the driving 'The Song Remains Unamed'. And while tracks such as 'You Carry the Curse' and 'Spider Legs' have hot, turning, buzzing guitars, they give way all too often to some truly loud and off-putting yelling. Lyrically, they play things by numbers, the titles of each track giving away the game long before you hear the song.

The fact a UK-based band possesses these kinds of riffs, and an inventiveness beyond their geographical basis, is a testament to the diversity bred by the 90s and 00s heavy rock and metal scene. It is the small musical flame Cut Yourself In Half should hold aloft and surge forward with - that is if they can resist swallowing it and exploding into a mess.