Ah, this is a difficult album for me to review. . . . A large portion of this cd is very much Pathogenic. . . flashback type stuff (although hints of both Vanishing. . . and Crawl. . . are also interwoven), but even back in '92, I listened to my Tourniquet with ever a finger poised by the skip button, just in case a horribly hard-rockin' song could be impending. . . and one always would be. So here's the guys returning to their roots (well, Ted's roots, anyway) of tech/thrash/rock.
I got this cd shortly after reading the initial reviews here on Dead, and as track 1 destroyed me and my expectations both, I saw no way that this wouldn't end up being a 10. The Tourniquet I'd always wanted finally all came together for one monstrous song. How can guys with short hair play this? Blazing and aggressive, this was exactly how I'd always hoped they would sound! And throughout the rest of the album, there are significant hints at that captured glory, but never a full revisitation. Sometimes fast, sometimes angry, and sometimes exactly how I'd always wished they would NOT sound. "Martyr's Pose", for instance, gave me those freaky "Exoskeletons" flashbacks that I've been in therapy for. Also, the acapella sections of otherwise great songs should have been left in the 90's (80's?), and the cheesy voice used for the chorus of "Indulgence by Proxy" is directly out of the song writers' manual of tricks to NOT use.
So after I've skipped several tracks and ignored select sections of others, I end up about where Tourniquet started. A pretty good album -- far, far better than pretty good at times -- but the consistent flashes of brilliance really just make me wonder what it's going to take for them to make the album that they've proven to me that they can -- but politely refuse -- to do. Anyway, for the listener whose music library ranges from Slayer to Megadeth to Guns 'N' Roses, this may well be the album of the year, but for my extreme tastes Tourniquet seems to have relapsed into their schizophrenic condition of years gone by.
7.5/10
Other coverage for this album
The Phantom Tollbooth 2001Reviewed by Scotty TeemsWhen was the last time you were bludgeoned by music? That seems to be one of the very few phrases I can find to accurately describe the sheer volume and mass of Tourniquet's latest disc, Microscopic View of a Telescopic Realm. This collection of eleven bruising and brooding numbers takes the speed metal Tourniquet fans are so familiar with and, well, leaves it alone. How refreshing it is to hear…7ball #31Reviewed by David MuttilloEarly in Microscopic View of a Telescopic Realm, Tourniquet quotes Bach's humble description of his great music: "They're simply notes put together in bars." Much like that great classical composer of old, the sum of this trio's output is much greater than just so many creatively arranged notes from a scale. It's easy to fall for such an assumption, though, since nobody can cram as many notes…HM Magazine #82Reviewed by Doug Van PeltOh yeah! The intro to this album ("Besprinkled in Scarlet Horror") ends all the speculation -- Tourniquet is not experimenting with a new sound anymore . . . they're blowing your head off with blazing heavy metal. Fans of Tourniquet's first three albums will feel like they're getting the follow-up to Pathogenic Ocular Dissonance with its biting and rising guitar scales. There's a harpsichord…Art for the Ears 2000Reviewed by Marco PovervestWhen you start this disc you might think you're listening to a funeral service. You hear a slowly murmuring church organ. But then, after ten seconds, this is brutally interrupted by an aggressive outburst of Tourniquet. And on this new album Tourniquet stands for Metal with the capital M as they go back to the sounds and ideas as captured on the Pathogenic Ocular Dissonance album. Not only…The Phantom Tollbooth 2000Reviewed by Tony LaFianzaWith Microscopic View of a Telescopic Realm, Tourniquet is back on several levels. They're back to speed metal, back to electric guitars, back to horrific CD covers, back to everything that fans have loved about the band for ten years. They've also come back on a secular label, Metal Blade, which has been releasing Christian favorites King's X and Galactic Cowboys for many years. Ted Kirkpatrick…The Phantom Tollbooth 2000Reviewed by Josh SpencerTourniquet has finally returned to the progressive speed/thrash metal form fans have wished for ever since the band left it in 1993 after Pathogenic Ocular Dissonance. The dozens of buzzing and clean guitar tones, time and tempo changes, sick leads, mad drumming, and added flute and cello are all back with whirlwind vengeance. It's not the brute force assault of most extreme metal, but rather, a…Dead Zine 2000Reviewed by NecRoSarXOkay, I'll be blunt. I had rather conflicting feelings when this album came out. Sure, I heard all the hype that the quasi-legendary Tourniquet had gone back to their blistering brand of progressive thrash metal on Microscopic View.... The fact that it was released on Metal Blade, a label that features mainly mainstream (for lack of a better word) metal bands and artists on their roster, was a…Dead Zine 2000Reviewed by SORGA project this big and complex takes almost as much time to review as it probably did to record! Well, not really but you know. It is albums like this that make me wish I knew how to read music and had gone to schooling for music theory and such. I REALLY did not think I would like this cd very much at all as I have not really liked anything Tourniquet has done since Vanishing Lessons, so all the…Dead Zine 2000Reviewed by D_ListerWell, well, well. Looks like Metal Blade finally got a kick butt Christian album to feed their spirit hungry listeners! That's right, Tourniquet is back and have finally come back ready to play some METAL! With this return we get a CD that's over an hour in length, and filled with musical elements that plain and simple make me happy just listening to. I tried to describe this to a friend of mine…Similar sounding releases
2001Stretch Arm StrongA Revolution Transmission
2003Better Off DeadThe Days of Friendship
2001AmosGothic Soul
1993Jesus FreaksSocially Unacceptable
2003MortificationPower, Pain & Passion
1991The CrucifiedPillars of HumanityMore from Tourniquet
1991Psycho Surgery
1998Live in California
1995Carry The Wounded
1994Vanishing Lessons
2003Where Moth And Rust Destroy
1992Pathogenic Ocular Dissonance
