The Sound and the Fury - "Alter Ego" (MAV)

Album review by Danny Alexander

To name your band after a Faulkner novel quoting Shakespeare, you either have to have some bold ambitions or simply be full of it. The only things the Sound and the Fury are full of are enough ambition, talent and passion to, as "The Earthquake's Revenge" acknowledges, "shake the ground."

Over an hour long, this 13 song debut starts by rejecting the dreams of distant, globalized capitalists ("Us Against Them"), finds its way to such delicate moments as a son's declaration of love for his troubled father ("Daddy's Dreaming") and winds up talking Judgment Day through the eyes of the messiah ("The King"). What makes all of this work is, first, the conviction of singer Jeff Wood and, equally importantly, a shared musicianship that layers this hard rocking album with a dense tapestry of textures. Still, perhaps the finest moment here is the straight-up rocker, "Bottled Magic," that lives up to its name even before uncorking the bottle with an electrical storm of guitar.

The lingering flame of what we once called art rock has found its place in the redefinition of metal provided by Tool and the maturation of postpunk defined by an aging Pearl Jam. The Sound and the Fury calls for that wide new audience between those genres and throws gas on the fire.

--Danny Alexander

[Write to the Sound and the Fury at 7505 S. Arnette, Grain Valley, MO 64029 or check out its website at http://www.thesoundandthefury.com/]