Frank R. Serafine – "The Colour Of A Mind" (4 out of 5)

It’s refreshing to know that every so often, someone will actually pay attention to my blogs.  It also gives me that special little feeling when people say “Hey, I like your reviews, would you mind reviewing an album I did if I send it to you?” I will more than likely say yes to that question, especially if you sat next to me in statistics class in college.  

This brings me to my  next review: Frank R. Serafine’s The Colour Of A Mind.  Frank went to college with me and yes, we did sit adjacent to each other in statistics, but passed the time talking metal rather than actually paying attention.  He emailed me with a link to his solo album, which, unless you have actually heard and appreciate Queensryche, you really won’t understand.  This is metal in a very ironic way.  And I say this because metal was not meant to be full of throat-shattering screams and drop-d palm mutes over double kick drums.  Believe it or not, heavy metal, in the beginning, had its roots from classical music.  It was when people started picking up on it and wanting to take it in other directions that sub-genres such as thrash, goth, hardcore, etc, started and went completely out of control.  

Frank’s album is reminiscent of the actual purposes for heavy metal.  It is Queensryche in the sense that the vocals tell stories, the guitars are layered, the time signatures change frequently, the solos are everywhere, and the synth reminds you of vampires.  But it is also more brutal than Queensryche ever was because of the drum and guitar patterns he uses.  Some may call it a mock show, others may call it beautiful, but I simply call it awesome.  

To be honest, most people are not going to like this album.  It takes a certain mind to really enjoy it.  It’s very home-made, the drums are programmed instead of recorded live, the guitars are in the background instead of up front and in your face, and the vocals are very dry.  From a producer standpoint, there are a number of things I would have done differently, but seeing as he did this all himself, I give him total respect for doing it and after knowing the programs he used to make it, I was pleasantly surprised.  

It’s hard for me to give this a starred review from a critic’s view instead of a personal one, but I’m going to give this a 4 out of 5.  I would have personally like the guitars to be louder, the vocals to have some distortion in the screams, and the bass guitar to be heard a little more.  But, knowing the way he recorded it, it would have been difficult to make it sound any better than it does.  It was done very well for its budget, the songs are intricate and well-written, and the nostalgic awesomeness it gives true metal fans is overly satisfactory.  If you’ve made it this far in a review about an artist you’ve never heard of, go add Frank on facebook and ask how you can get your hands on it.  It’s worth a listen for sure.