Rarely does one come across an inventive group that combines several genres into cohesive one and still remains very accessible, but this is exactly the case with the Dallas-based quintet Fair to Midland. Serjical Strike owner and System of a Down frontman Serj Tankian was amongst the first ones to notice Fair to Midland's talent, and signed them to his label's roster after seeing two of their gigs. As I mentioned earlier, Fair to Midland is a crossover band with very accessible songs... usually bands don't succeed this well in combining several genres, but FtM does this with success probably because each member of the group has different taste in music so they really need to find an appropriate medium between what everyone listens.

The sounds on this album are really apt, which doesn't come as a surprise seeing David Bottrill (Peter Gabriel, Muse, King Crimson, Tool) has produced and mixed while Bob Ludwig handled mastering on this record. Actually the sounds are so polished that it's hard to believe this album even has any metal sections, because the pop sensibilites fool you into thinking different. Also the song material is of steady quality and the performance is tight throughout.

All in all, "Fables from a Mayfly: What I Tell You Three Times Is True" is a really strong and polished album with top-notch songwriting, catchy yet intriguing song structures and on top of all they have a sound of their own. One of FtM's strengths is that they never relapse into gimmickry so often found in other crossover groups (mainly progressive metal bands). Another distinctive feature of Ftm is their vocalist Darroh Sudderth, who uses his voice diversely. Overall, I recommend checking out this album in case you enjoy listening to adventurous rock songs and aren't annoyed by occasional high-pitched singing.

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- MAGE (September 18th, 2007)



"Dance of the Manatee" video:

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LINE-UP:
Stowers, Brett: Drums Campbell, Cliff: Guitars Sudderth, Darroh: Vocals Dicken, Jon: Bass Langley, Matt: Keyboards
Producer:	Bottrill, David
Mixing by:	Bottrill, David & Lewin, Katia
Mastering by:	Ludwig, Bob

	TRACKLIST:
	01. Dance of the Manatee 02. Kyla Cries Cologne 03. Vice/Versa 04. The Wife, the Kids, and the White Picket Fence 05. April Fools and Eggman 06. A Seafarer's Knot 07. A Wolf Descends opon the Spanish Sahara 08. Walls of Jericho 09. Tall Tales Taste Like Sour Grapes 10. Upgrade Brigade 11. Say When Length: 44:28