Mugzu - Not Really
by James

Imagine you're walking down the street and you see some nicely dressed man coming towards you. He's humming a little tune, minding his own business and looking pretty damn harmless. Then, as your paths cross, his eyes darken, he grabs you by the throat and just starts screaming at you like a psycho. That's pretty much how Mugzu's new EP, Not Really, feels to me. Very few bands embody insanity the way these guys do. It's not that they are overly chaotic or heavy or fast. It's simply an undeniable vibe I get when I listen to this CD.

Musically, Mugzu defies you to lump them into a genre. You could easily say that, yes, these guys are heavy and if I had to lump them into a general category, it would be metal. However, there are aspects of several different styles of metal, both old and new school, as well as a bit of a punk vibe in some places. They simply do not sound like any particular band I've ever heard before which puts a big ole smile on my face. There are no ballads, no melodic vocals or any other such pretty things bands throw in to try and have that one song they can put on the radio. From start to finish (lullaby intro and outro notwithstanding), Not Really is ugly, abrasive and in your face. Mugzu pummels you until you think you can't stand it, takes a quick breath and beats you down some more.

The most striking thing about this album is not how heavy it is, but how catchy the songs are. Listen to it once or twice and you'll find yourself humming the riffs to yourself. You'll get the growling vocals stuck in your head and you probably won't even know what he is saying. You just know you want to hear it again and again. I just don't know of very many heavy albums that can be this catchy and still dodge the badge of trying to be corporate clones. I don't think anyone can listen to Not Really and honestly say Mugzu is bucking for endless radio play. Still, when you hear it, you will remember the songs. Whether or not you hate the fact that Watchmen (assuming that is the name of the song because I don't have a track listing) is on a constant mental loop is debatable. I haven't stopped listening to the CD long enough to have it playing in my head, so I can't tell you if it would bother me.