Coma-Excess

Armoury Records 2010

Despite being huge in their native country Poland the band Coma are unknown to the American public. "Excess" is an English version of the group's album "Hipertrofia" ( note: only 9 tracks were taken from the album as it was originally a 2 disc concept album) which went Platinum in Poland. Drawing influences from Illusion, Pearl Jam and Led Zeppelin the group formed in 1998 and have released several albums although this appears to be the first sung in English. Or rather translated into English as is the case. That in itself does make the album feel a little off. I've ran into this sort of thing before (example Satan Jokers sound better in French than in the English translation) and would liked to have heard this sang in it's native language to really get a feel for it. But, as that isn't the case I'll take what's given and move on. Starting off with the title track "Excess" the sound was similar in nature to a second rate Linkin Park. Not a good sign. But I soldiered on and the next track "Transfusion" had more of a grunge/nu metal sound going for it. Not bad. From there the album went from "Poisonous Plants' (heavier Staind) to "T.B.T.R" which started off slow but finished strong with some great guitar solos towards the end. "Struggle" was rap rock (Linkin Park again) while "Afternoons In The Colour Of Lemo" drew comparisons to Pearl Jam. "Eckhart" was way too long clocking in at 10:46 and far too slow to hold my attention for long. "F.T.P" (one of the bonus tracks) I enjoyed with it's heavy bass line and almost punk/hardcore pissed off and angry feel but the closer "F.T.M.O." (and other bonus track) did nothing for me. All in all I'd say this is really geared towards modern rock radio. Aimed at fans of 30 Seconds To Mars, Finger Eleven, Trapt and Chevelle traditional heavy metal fans probably will want to pass on this. But if your tastes are varied and you enjoy the more modern sound of radio alt metal then try Coma. "Excess" does post good production and you do get a lot of bang for your buck in the way of variety. It's just for me I can't see them standing out in an already crowded field of Hot Topic metal.