Released By: Self Released – Out Now
Genre: Political Heavy Metal
Links: http://www.myspace.com/babylonmysteryorchestra
Line Up:
Sydney Allen Johnson: All Instruments & Vocals
Track List:
1. Catspaw
2. Apollo
3. Benai Elohim
4. A Constitutional Right?
5. Jesus Save….
6. Hate Crime
7. Ruin
8. Viva Cristo Rey!
9. We Is Killing Me
10. Godless
11. You’re On Your Own…This Time
12. The Twelfth Iman
BABYLON MYSTERY ORCHESTRA is a one man project created by extreme right-winger SIDNEY ALLEN JOHNSON. The music in reality, is just a vehicle for the rants and opinions of Mr. Johnson and really plays second fiddle in the output of the album.
For a self-financed project, the album overall is very well done and of special note is one of the fattest booklets I’ve ever seen in a CD case which is filled to the brim with lyrics, song explanations and quotes from people like Barack Obama and the bible.
To give you a bit of an idea on what this guy stands for, there is a photo of him in the booklet dressed in a confederate army hat and holding a rifle in one hand and a copy of the holy bible in the other. With myself being a total atheist, and having little to no interest in world politics, this image was a little over the top for me as was a majority of the messages throughout the albums lyrics.
I give full credit to someone that is willing to lay all of his opinions and beliefs out on the table for all to hear, but I personally don’t agree with a fair bit of what he was speaking about.
As I said a little earlier, the actual music plays second fiddle on the album, which is made clear by the fact that musically it a very straightforward and simplistic approach, with JOHNSON’S vocals being closer to spoken word than actual singing and are more akin to a preacher or maybe more fairly a storyteller. The style is a combination of some hard rock, some gothic tinges and an all-round heavy metal approach and as simplistic as it is, actually works quite well with the subject matter at hand.
I was a little taken aback by just how strong some of the messages on the album were, and combined with a bit of a non-interesting musical background I wasn’t overly impressed. I suggest having a browse of the BMO website first to see if your views on certain things a similar to Johnson’s. If they are, I’m sure you will totally love this album, if not you’re probably better off skipping this one.
Written By ZeeZee
Rating: 5/10
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