Motograter are the latest collective to be swept up by No Name Records and offered a shot at success, a decision most likely made thanks in part to their visual appearance (they all wear body paint) and their original musical invention. In place of a normal bass guitar, band founder Grater has created what he calls a 'motograter', an instrument made out of industrial cables and varied gears which combines the lethal burst of guitar and bass into one unique weapon. With this eponymous debut, these men have now unleashed this monstrosity upon the music world, as the music contained here is drenched with textures and tones that hardly astound but, if nothing else, inspire curiosity about this creation.

This album has an almost overwhelming tribal feel to it, due in large part to the instrument the band built and fashioned their named after. There is a punishing bass surge that swallows the songs whole, yet this also becomes a hindrance to the their sound, drowning out the other musicians and clogging the album with a muddy, suffocating crunch. With that said, when the group do manage to plow through this turgid wall of noise, they simply deliver the same regurgitated alternative metal that has plagued the sewers of heavy music for the past few years. Varying degrees of melody are sandwiched between generic slabs of metallic aggression, and this 'motograter' rarely enhances the material it is supposed to add a new depth to. In fact this instrument bares an uncanny aural resemblance to a down-tuned bass guitar, and the music that it emits here does nothing to disprove that it is little more than a glorified version of just that. The dual drum warfare found within does however increase the thick tones Motograter wish to convey, thundering with dramatic effect as vocalist Ghost wails and screams at nothing in particular. The random samples add the extra touch to stamp this album with a "nu-metal" mystique that was edgy and creative in 1999, and that is exactly how Motograter feel....dated.

When your band's sole attraction resides in an instrument of your own design, undoubtedly there is trouble ahead. The band seem to hope that listeners will be placated by this very fact, as it appears that they have spent little time writing their own distinct music. Motograter have liberally borrowed from their musical peers, incorporating noticeable elements of Ultraspank, Sevendust, Korn, Soulfly and Coal Chamber into their musical repertoire. This makes for an album that is all too familiar and blatantly unoriginal. Sure this is the group's debut album, and wearing their influences on their sleeve can be forgiven; But it is hard to believe that listeners will unwittingly embrace an album that feels like nothing more then an imitation of the genre it inhabits.