Final Otep album is a pile of shit

Nu-metal band Otep have released their sixth and final album Hydra. The album is based off of a graphic novel that vocalist Otep Shamaya has been writing for close to two years. Otep have always been known for their albums being a mix of songs that are heavy and emotional and more traditional and then seven minute long spoken word wastes of time.
After four stellar albums, Sevas Tra, House of Secrets, The Ascension and Smash the Control Machine, the band released their awful album Atavist. On that album Shamaya got lazy in her songwriting and the songs weren't as great as past hits like "Warhead" and "Sacrilege."
Shamaya has said that Hydra is inspired by American Horror Story as well as her graphic novel and that really comes out on the shitty ass "Hematopia," "Necromantic" and "Quarantine" that all blend together to form one big mess. Then there's the spoken word "Voyeur." This "song" is a spoken word pile of garbage about a kid who takes webcam videos of himself killing animals. Shamaya then goes on to murder him and rip out his jaw. Hot mess.
There are some real songs like "Blowtorch Nightlight" and "Hag." These two are the best songs on the album, but there isn't really anything memorable about them. Other songs like "Seduce & Destroy," "Crush" and "Feral Game" are also more traditional songs but lack the spark that older Otep songs had. There are no meaningful lyrics, no catchy screamed chorus, nothing to make each song stand out.
The single "Apex Predator" is a hip hop song that is weird, but something about it works. Yet these moments of greatness are overshadowed by the weird spoken word songs like "Livestock" and "Theophagy."
This album makes me sad because Otep announced that Hydra was their last album and they're going out on such a low note. Otep's fans are so loyal that they love this terrible album. It's sad that a person's past work can blind people from the atrocity that their last two albums have been. Thankfullly Otep will never make another album again.

In This Moment losing too much blood

Metalcore band In This Moment launched their career in 2007 and released three phenomenal albums. With the release of their latest record, Blood, last month the band took a huge step backwards. While several of the songs rank up there with the band's best, this album has some huge problems.
The main problem being that for some reason frontwoman Maria Brink finds the need to do a shitty Otep impression on "Whore" and the single "Blood." Brink doesn't have the screaming chops that Otep Shamaya, frontwoman for Otep has and while these songs are great they aren't as good as the band's older music.
Another issue with this album is the fact that Brink has become lazy in her lyrics. "Shut up, shut up, shut up/Shut up, shut up shut up/Shut up, shut up, shut up/You're gonna listen to what I say this time," Brink screams during the chorus of the catchy yet stupid "You're Gonna Listen." While it's a fun song to listen to the lyrics simply take away from what could have been greatness. The music of the song is similar to their older albums but the lyrics are just ridiculous.
Another song that isn't good is "Burn." It's clunky and tries to hard to be heavy and deep but the lyrics are just silly. "Set me on fire and watch me burn," Brink screams dramatically during the chorus. This song is just silly and Brink seems to be a drama queen.
There are some great moments on Blood. "Whore" features Otep styled rapped verses and a screamed chorus. Brink's clean vocals in the pre-chorus sound heavenly and beautiful. This song is different from other In This Moment songs but it's great. Another highlight on the album is "From The Ashes." From the chugging guitars and gorgeously sung vocals, this song is a winner. It almost sounds like it could have been written for their second album The Dream. "Beast Within" starts out slow with Brink doing spoken word verses before singing the pre-chorus and singing and screaming in the chorus.
Blood has a few great ballads. While the album closer "11:11" is boring slow songs such as "Scarlett" and "The Blood Legion" are gorgeous while mixing in some heavier influences on the second halves of each song.
The best song on this album is by far "Adrenalize," a sexed up rocker featuring Brink seductively singing the verses and screaming the choruses. The song also features a breakdown similar to their Beautiful Tragedy and A Star-Crossed Wasteland albums. The song is a great reminder of what In This Moment have been and hopefully what they will become. The song sound like if Lady Gaga started a metal band, which is not a bad thing.
The album all in all sounds like if Korn didn't suck and were fronted by a woman. While this album is still great, it falls short of topping the masterpiece that was their last album, A Star-Crossed Wasteland. Hopefully the band will stop trying to be something they're not.