Bamboo Diet

Montréal's Bamboo Diet are angry about something and it isn't the price of poutine. Bamboo Diet are a slightly math-y three-piece that skirt the line between arty metal and furrowed-brow hardcore, employing plenty of Mike Patton-influenced crazy-guy vocals, punishing journeyman riffs and obscure (or made-up) polysyllabic words as song titles. The fact that they have tracks entitled "Tradozone," "Autofanticide" and a triptych suite dubbed "A Lesson in Cold Conditions" alert the listener to their angry seriousness, but also disclose the fact that Bamboo Diet are treading the same heavy-weird ground established since Tool and System of a Down cracked the Billboard Top 40. The band name the Jesus Lizard, Melvins and Fugazi as influences, which simply brings into relief their retrogressive mindset. This isn't to say that fans of those bands won't find anything to like, but Bamboo Diet bring nothing new to the table, recycling the same old standbys and lead screamer Terence Boisvert's vocals feel forced and calculated. The production on DSM-VI is thin and flat, which is especially egregious considering that this kind of music lives and dies on dynamics.