After the depressing 1995 EP Your Favorite God, which was a sort of official presentation of some of the material the band had demo'd since their excellent album, I was not holding out a lot of hope for the ensuing album. The band had incorporated cheap aggression through the form of weak grooves, and lost a great deal of the delicate balance that made Programmed such a treat to listen through. I anticipated only a direct continuation of that material, and to an extent this is what Poison Seed delivers. However, the specter of songwriting potential from the debut does seem to re-surface here, shining through the unusual eyesore gracing the cover, and though this doesn't even come close to the shadow of its predecessor in terms of overall quality, I feel like the sophomore was at least headed back in the right direction. It just had so much further to go...

Clearly the band kept their Queensrÿche influence, primarily through the vocals, but also that Seattle band were experimenting around this time with bigger grooves and more 'modern' elements to the music, and failing at it far harder than Lethal. You can also hear a little of the Ray Alder from Parallels or Inside Out, and perhaps even a little Alice in Chains (part of "Bitter Taste" reminded me of Layne Staley). But the biggest distinction here would have to be the heavier, chugging guitars, given enough bombast not to run steady with the lame nu-metal pundits of the mid to late 90s, but at least doing something to bridge the distance with the OzzFest crowd and Pantera-whores. The line-up here was consistent with the prior year's EP, so perhaps by 1996 the band had just refined their direction enough that they managed to avoid a complete suck fest.

"Down" feels like a heavier, darker approach to some of the Programmed material, and the crunching weight of the guitar tone actually reminds me a lot of Ray Alder's side project Engine, especially the way Mallicoat carves out some of his ascending lines late in the verses. This is not a good song, necessarily, but at the least it is superior to anything from that previous release, and I felt a breach in the tension and despair I held. "Bitter Taste" crafts a simple, bludgeoning flow through the twanging melodic guitars of the intro and the pumping bass, but after that it can feel a little shrill and silly, especially the vocals as they shift from the accessible mystery of the verse to a more funky, Axel Rose meets Layne Stayley vibe. "Born" is a bright and bluesy, folk ballad piece with some soothing vocals and crisp guitars, but it can't match "Another Day", and the following track "Walking Wounded" delivers only generic, chugging guitars which must not have taken more than a few seconds to write.

"Poison Seed" itself is yet another diversion similar to "Born", with clean guitars and a mix of Geoff Tate-like mid range vocals with distorted, almost electro bass tones. It's actually one of the better songs on the album (I know that is not saying much), picking up in intensity though it never transforms into metal anywhere. I could see someone who dug Alice in Chains or Queensryche ballads, some strange Seattle connection, nodding his/her/its head to this, and the band incorporates a string section which scintillates alongside the pluck of guitars and bombast of the bass. "Watch Me Feed" is a doomy piece which once again sounds like...you guessed it, the fabled grunge band, albeit at a metallic pace. The same goes for "Meaning", though the vocals are quite good with this one. If only the music had followed their lead.

"Now" creates yet another of the band's dreamy, clean guitar sequences with more strings, decent if forgettable, and "Your Favorite God" starts with bass and then the lamentations of some strong, wailing guitar melodies and even more wailing vocals. The latter is another of the album's strongest, despite a few forgettable rhythm guitar lines and a continuing influence from Layne Staley, there is something about the screaming vocals that succeeds. "Odd Shaped Pearl" is an instrumental which continues the use of string section, here aligned with acoustic guitars in a clever little classical outro. This doesn't only close out Poisoned Seed, but the band's career, at least until they see fit to release something new (the band is still active in some form).

While this sophomore is a mess of ideas that do not always fit so well together, it falls into the category of 'could have been worse' rather tightly. A number of the songs here stand out to mind far more than anything on Your Favorite God, but that's not high praise, as the EP was largely abysmal. When scratching a Lethal itch, there remains no alternative to Programmed in terms of desirability or quality. However, if you are masochistic and want to hear what the Kentucky crew were doing to adapt and assimilate themselves into the 90s, the near 50 minutes of Poison Seed will leave you only in a state of bewilderment. Never truly awful, but often hovering close to that state, it stands as yet another timeless testimonial to why a band's evolution need be very carefully monitored, more efficiently than Lethal were capable of.

Verdict: Indifference [5.25/10]

http://www.myspace.com/yourfavoritegod

Those of us who worship the fallen legend Queensrÿche are not faced with a lot of options when we seek out material of a similar vein. Comparative late 80s progressive metal acts Fates Warning and Dream Theater veer too far in the progressive territory itself, and most of the other quality traditional US power metal acts of the day seem more like NWOBHM upgrades, some of whom spit thrash into the formula. Sure, we had a Crimson Glory or Lizzy Borden, whose career best offerings Transcendence and Visual Lies might foot and fit the bill, but there is one other, a lesser known band from Kentucky known simply as Lethal, who produced a debut quite close to Rage for Order or Operation: Mindcrime in style through Metal Blade Records in 1990.

Now, before I proceed, let me qualify that this is meant as a compliment. Lethal are in no way a carbon copy of the then-titans of Seattle, but two of the foremost elements in their sound certainly beg the comparison: the thin and sharp pitch and shifting range of front man Tom Mallicoat which often mirrors Geoff Tate, and the melodic splicing of the guitars which recalls that of Michael Wilton and Chris DeGarmo from the 1984-88 period. Programmed shares that same brand of late 80s production, with spacious, simple rhythm guitars that stick to the memory as if by thumbtacks, and wide open, thoughtful persistence. At the time I bought this cassette, I was very heavily in heat with thrash epics like Artillery's By Inheritance and Realm's Suiciety, and this is very near the polar opposite of such works, so I was not truly impressed until it hit me at the right time and right place: the rear passenger seat during an extensive vacation car ride to Virginia, armed with headset, spare batteries and no desire at all to communicate with my family members.

In such an environment, with the sun glaring through the glass panes, eyes tuned only to a broad, blue sky, passing concrete and guard rail and incessant highway signs, the glittering streams of dual guitar and Mallicoat's graceful beckoning was able to work itself about my neurons, and I was soon pretty deeply enamored of the album, or at least the majority of the tracks. Though competently executed with a good number of memorable hooks and heavy, soaring atmosphere, I've actually found Programmed to possess a rather calming effect when I listen through it. Perhaps this is due to its seeming complacency in a period where metal was beginning to grow darker through its more extreme forms (death, black, grind), or at the least complex as thrash completed its maturity cycle. Perhaps it's that some part of me was simply soothed by the fact that a band was still making metal like this.

"Fire in Your Skin" begins with unassuming, ringing clean guitar tones that feel quite similar to the intro of Lizzy Borden's "Me Against the World", with the same ride on the hi hat and build into climactic chords. But at around the minute mark, the axe men explode into these ecstatic guitar melodies that ford the river into the faster pace of the verse, Mallicoat arriving like a siren from the top of a skyscraper, notes arching and falling as if he were Tate's illegitimate country cousin. "Programmed" works a little mid-80 Maiden magic with the churning melodic chords before it breaks into a killer verse, Tom's lines unforgettable, the chorus a killer that would sate any fan of Crimson Glory, Lizzy Borden, or early Fates Warning. The thrills do not stop here, as the "Plan of Peace" teems with excellent melodies and a majestic, rolling pace through the verse and another quality chorus. Experts at plotting an album, they follow this trio with the power ballad "Another Day", which was certainly this band's "Silent Lucidity". Calm, flowing guitars and subtle shifts in mood complement Mallicoat's emotions fluently.

Captured in this sequence, I lust for days of promise passing by
Another place, another time, another ship of fools I am on
Oh, they go nowhere. Should I feel this way?
Have I been this way before? Just another day...

Though the lyrics are simple, they are elegant within their musical shell, and I feel like we've all had moments like this in our lives. Might have been a hit had the band seen some exposure, but alas, there was simply no room left on the shelf of most metal fans these days. "Arrival" returns to the band's superb melodic metal, escalating vocals and beautiful guitar work highlighting the verse. "What They've Done" features a sweet counter-melody in the melodic chugging of its own verse, and another screaming chorus over the perfect selection of chords. "Obscure the Sky" recalls earlier Fates Warning (first three albums) through its vocal notes, though the music is not as twisted or manic as an Awaken the Guardian, and what seems as if it might be a second pure Tate-like power ballad: "Immune" soon shifts into screaming aggression, very close to what we heard on Operation: Mindcrime a few years prior.

After this, the band delivers the REAL second ballad, "Pray for Me", and I feel as if it's the one weak number on the album, not void of distinct melodies, but also not so enticing when compared to any other track on the album, though it is interesting to hear Mallicoat deliver the chorus in a largely middle register. "Killing Machine" closes the album with an acceptable weight, but aside from the bridge melodies there is not a lot here that would charm my ears either, though I liked this more than "Pray for Me" by landslide, and it's good to hear the louder bass presence as it runs below the desperate surges of guitar. Really, though, the mesmerizing effect this album can have in the proper environment does decay after the parting clean tones and vocals of "Immune". The final two tracks do somewhat mar its mirror clear surface.

Regardless of its anticlimactic finish, Programmed is still quite an experience, and one that I'd easily recommend to any fan of 80s power/progressive fare from either side of the Atlantic. The performances are excellent, though the band clearly reins in their capabilities for explosion to ensure that the songs have an almost pop character. This was the finest hour for vocalist Tom Mallicoat, as his work on the following, depressing releases through Massacre Records grew far from compelling. Lethal might have been best off to never step foot in the studio again, leaving just this lonesome, breathtaking legacy in their wake. Alas, the world is far from perfect, the flow of time brings new disappointments and a greater appreciation for when we had it so good: and these Kentucky boys gave it as good as most, having already reached their full potential on a debut album.

Verdict: Win [8.75/10] (statues of friends fall behind you)

http://www.myspace.com/yourfavoritegod

If you haven't had the opportunity yet to check out this Kentucky band's 1990 debut album Programmed, then I highly recommend YOU get with the program and hunt it down. To put it bluntly, Lethal were on course to becoming the greatest Queensrÿche outside of Queensrÿche, and I say this only with admiration, because Programmed would have made a perfect bridge between Rage for Order and the legendary Operation: Mindcrime. Fuck, I would have taken an album from the 'rÿche of equal quality to Lethal's Programmed at any point AFTER Operation Mindcrime and been happier than the endless stream of drivel the Washington State titans have been phoning in for the past 20+ years.

Well, it took Lethal about five years to get around to the follow-up to their great debut, and it arrived in the shape of this 6-track EP released through Massacre Records in 1995. This is yet another shred of evidence that melodic metal had been outsourced to Europe (and Japan) in the 90s. Grunge and death metal had taken over the American market, and its a shame a quality band like Lethal went unnoticed as early as 1990. But the Europeans kept their ears open, the band got a new deal, and an official release of the demo material Your Favorite God had finally arrived, with the same lineup save for a change in one of the guitar spots (David McElfresh replacing Dell Hull). Unfortunately, the band were unable to capitalize on the momentum of the debut, and Your Favorite God seemed to be lacking in many areas where Programmed had excelled.

First off, Tom Mallicoat's vocals seem a little strained here, and not as crystalline as his prior performance. They're not bad, and easily identified as the same man, but he seems to be decaying when he ranges out. Another nuisance is that the production feels rather weak, and through the years even more dated. The band seems to have increased the heaviness of the low end guitars as if this were somehow going to 'insert' them seamlessly into the current groove metal trends of the mid-90s (where crap like Machine Head, Metallica's Load and later Pantera reigned supreme). From a songwriting perspective, the guitars aren't all that different, except for maybe the groove-thrashing of "Hard to Breathe". It's just an added crunch that wasn't necessary when they were writing their better material.

But the biggest crime about this EP is the utter lack of memorable writing. There is no "Plan of Peace" here. No "Obscure the Sky". No "Arrival". The gleaming eagle of Mallicoat's higher range that once crested the band's excellent approach to melodic riffing had crumbled into extinction, and all we got were these stinking...no, we didn't even get a t-shirt. The worst songs here are those with the bigger low-end chug riffs like "Waiting on the Kill" or "Hard to Breathe", but when the band more closely resembles their earlier album on "Swim or Drown", or the Fates Warning-like prog rock churning of "The Page Before", they still fail to impress. "Balancing Act" and "The Real" feel very much like a Queensrÿche outtake, from either Empire or Operation Mindcrime, and though neither is impressive, they're the best tracks here. That's pretty sad when you think about it...

The band did manage to survive for one more album, also put out through Massacre the following year, known as Poison Seed, and to be fair, there are a few tracks on that which are superior to what you'll hear on Your Favorite God. Mallicoat is better there, as are the riffs, but even so, the majority of that album is also routed in the newfound groove metal of the period. Hardly essential, and it left me longing for Programmed even more. Apparently that particular adaptation failed to support the organism that was 90s Lethal, because it's the last we've heard of them (though the band still exists in some form). At any rate, you'll want to skip this and head straight for door number one: Programmed, if you haven't already done so. Your Favorite God might entertain a diehard fan or collector for a few minutes, but it's pretty much worthless in the face of the immensely superior, timeless and catchy debut.

Verdict: Fail [4/10]

http://www.myspace.com/yourfavoritegod