In the time-honored tradition of metal bands such as Winger and Slaughter, Stoner Wall has saddled his one-man outfit with the moniker Wall.  His disc " . . . a slice of aggressive apathy" is a six song demo that demonstrates his mastery of the concept of synth-heavy Euro-metal.

The Britney Spears cover is the standout track here.  The standard meal guitar and deep, heavily processed vocals on "Oops. . . I Did it Again" make for an utterly hilarious listening experience.  "Closer", a downtempo, lush affair, is the best of the original tracks.  

There's no new ground being broken.  It's pretty standard gothic metal with layers of keyboards and well-programmed drum machines.  The songs are well-produced for a home studio.  If Mr. Wall hires himself out as an engineer, I'd recommend him.  But the fact that he has made over a thousand bucks on mp3.com indicates that, even if I'm not particularly impressed with Wall, somebody out there likes it.

www.mp3.com/walled
www.britneyspears.com

05/09/01