### Otep: The ascension

#### 14/08/07 || Euthanatos

I have no idea why I’m reviewing this. For the uninitiated, Otep is a nu metal band. Or at least they were, when I first heard of them. Needless to say, I did not follow their career. So now comes to GD Otep’s newest album, “The Ascension”. Now let’s get one thing straight here, something I mentioned in my profile: I’m a pretty open-minded kind of guy. I listen to all kinds of rock, some blues, I love folk… But enough about me. Point is, I wouldn’t dismiss a band just because of their musical style.

So, back to “The Ascension”, let’s listen to this with an open mind and heart and see what we have. First of all, we have a female vocalist. That’s good, right? At least, I think so. Like our royal highness Lord Motherfucken K, I have a soft spot for bands that are female-fronted. This chick here, who’s also called Otep, sings pretty aggressively, sometimes she goes more mellow, but most of the time it’s either screaming or moaning. Well, that pretty much sums up nu metal, right? There are solid musicians in this band, though. The drummer particularly, some fellow named Brian Wollf, has some serious talent. Alas, nu metal never was an interesting style to begin with, and Otep is kinda stretching the genre real thin, beating a dead horse alongside other shitty acts like Static-X.

There are, true, some good moments here and there, after all, since metalcore is now the trend, it’s obvious bandwagon cocksuckers like Otep would be influenced by this. But since everything always goes back to screaming and moaning, my patience wears out real quick. “Perfectly Flawed”, which is a more alternative-rock oriented song is actually interesting. Maybe Otep should stick to this side of their music instead of the nu metal crap. Speaking of alternative, these guys have the fucking spite of covering a Nirvana song. Geez. Oh, and Otep, the chick, is pretty hot, so I’ll give her an extra point for that. Hooray for sexism!

The cover: Otep’s (again, the chick) face. Well, since she’s the best thing they’ve got going, that’s not a bad idea. At all.

2 hot blondes out of 10.

- Information
- Released: 2007
- Label: Capitol Records
- Website: www.otep.com
- Band
- Otep Shamaya: vocals, good looks
- “Evil” J. Macguire: bass, ridiculous nicknames
- Karma Singh Cheema: guitars
- Brian “Haggis” Wollf: drums

- Tracklist
- 01. March of the Martyrs
- 02. Confrontation
- 03. Perfectly Flawed
- 04. Crooked Spoons
- 05. Milk of Regret
- 06. Noose and Nail
- 07. Ghostflowers
- 08. Breed
- 09. Eat the Children
- 10. Invisible
- 11. Home Grown
- 12. Communion
- 13. Adrenochrome Dreams