Rex Mundi

by Doormouse

Do I really hate doing these things or am I just worried that I will make someone mad when I tell them their band is terrible? I think it may be a little bit of both. A lot of the time, I go to shows and can't think of a single nice thing to say about some of the bands, so I just skip saying anything at all. I am tired of it. I have never given undeserving praise to a band, but there are many times when I bite my tongue in the name of being a nice guy. So, as I give a run down of the bands I saw this weekend, keep in mind that the gloves are now off. If you invite me out to review your band, be prepared for me to recommend that you not quit your day job. Let the beatings commence.

Saturday night brought me out to Lone Star Country Club in Coppell for Rex Mundi, Grain and Mudflap. I kinda feel sorry for the last two bands, because I had a hard time getting into them after seeing Rex Mundi. I really had my hopes up high for these guys, I can say I was not disappointed. In fact, I was completely blown away. Apart from some minor hiccups during the first song , set was completely flawless. They all moved like they have been doing this for years. I give em props for covering Killing In The Name.. If you're gonna cover Rage Against The Machine, that is an excellent choice, and they did it well. They managed to bring a lot of aggression while still making good use of melody, in places. The whole set was just tight as hell. They are definitely a band with a bright future ahead of them.

Grain is pretty good for a young band, but they don't do a whole lot to set themselves apart from the other bands doing the style of music they are doing. I thought the vocals were awesome and the drummer showed some real skill behind the kit, at times, but they just lacked*something. They were very tight, though, and moved together well. A couple of their songs had some cool hooks that I could get into, such as Hate Them In Return. I dug that song, a lot. The good thing about bands like this is they are young and can always get better. I think all these guys have what it takes to do something really cool, in the future, if they keep stepping up their game.

Mudflap finished off my weekend in grand style. I haven't seen these guys since the Big Iron show I reviewed, last year, so some of the stylistic changes they have made in that time really caught me by surprise. Last time I saw them, they had a pretty clean, old school hard rock kind of sound. No screaming and all the aggression came from the guitar. Now, Kristian has taken a much more angry approach to his vocals and the band as a whole is better off for it. There are still elements of what I liked before, when he goes into the clean vocal parts of the songs, but his scream adds a new dynamic and helps these guys really stand out from their peers. They have done a smart thing by flowing with the times instead of fighting them and their blending of something old and something new is fairly refreshing. They covered Slipknot's Sic and managed to prove that there are quite a few unnecessary members in that band. However, I did think their original material was far superior to the cover, which is always a good thing.

All in all, it was another great weekend in Dallas and I hope to have many more to come in the future. All of you that missed my more active presence on this site can stop by my message board to thank the people there for what will hopefully be more regular content from me.
- XtremeDFW.com