Mindphaser is a death metal group from South Carolina that mixes the raw guitars and vocal sounds of the death metal genre with the more straightforward singing style and slow churn of the popular grunge-metal scene.  Barely an EP, this independent release falls short of the production quality and lyrical integrity of its predecessors.  With lyrics such as "You think you can get into heaven with a wink and a nod / You might can play man / But you can't play God," it's a wonder how these guys can mix such trite rhymes with such heavy music.  And although the guitars maintain an interesting groove, the band lacks any interesting drum work, bass parts, and any real vocal nuances.  Even the guitar crunch is barely a crunch.  However, the mix seems pretty professional for an independent project, and there are possibilities for these guys.  Although Mindphaser isn't going to make any real noise in the scene with this EP, one can hope that they'll stick to a no-nonsense death style and possibly make their noise a little heavier and thicker next time.

Todd Ballard 03/27/2000