Enigmatically named "Mico De Noche", a Seattle based outfit being aimed by their label at the MASTODON and MELVINS market are actually made up of duo Mike Krum (g/v) and Donovan Stewart (d/v). A formidable looking pair who's voluminous sound comes through augmenting the band as required with, well I counted, no less than nine guest artists as and when necessary.

The album first really grabs attention with "Tu's Place". A song that is initially thunderous but ultimately mellows into a heavy, spacey, slow-tempo grind. It peaks though with the punchy, rolling rhythms of "Out Of Control", and if those two hit the spot then the other five are gonna be worth a listen, each deviating little from the raw, distorted, heavy riffing guitar template but with enough diversity to make the overall disc interesting if unpolished. I say unpolished because on the negative side, the vocals are a bit too shouty at times and a little more finesse would almost definitely have upped the overall score a bit.

It's not an album that generates extreme opinions either way though and I wouldn't expect to see it in any year end round-ups, either in the "Best Of" or "Worst of" sections. I've got it tagged simply as "another decent independent-label released, heavy rock album" but that's not meant as a negative comment and overall I'd say its worth exploring but won't appeal to all.

- Leslie

OFFICIAL SITE: www.micodenoche.com

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