October 16, 2001 - The Interzone Mantras

It's a double release day! Just under a year since the compilation album "Tangents", but over two years since their last studio album "Triptych", The Tea Party released their sixth album "The Interzone Mantras" on October 16, 2001. Frontman Jeff Martin is a producer for the first time on this album and he wanted to really capture The Tea Party's live energy, so this album is mostly just the three guys rocking out, and a lot less use of extra keyboards and other production. Let's check out some back-to-basics Tea Party!

The album begins with "Interzone" and Martin plays a catchy and cool guitar riff to lead the way and there's some catchy horns as well that add a nice extra bit to things. Martin sounds just as epic as always singing a solid verse and the chorus is a little simpler, but still pretty catchy and solid. The verse has lots of cool stuff going on and gives off that Eastern vibe that the Tea Party have become known for. It's a pretty solid way to kick things off! Up next is "Angels" and it's got a slow pace but Jeff Burrows plays a catchy drum beat and Martin leads the way with a light guitar riff and a soft verse to match the mood. The chorus is louder with some decent guitars, but things sound very calm and accessible and things just don't really jump out. It's a good song still for sure, but certainly not one of their best either. Track 3 is "The Master & Margarita" and Martin plays a cool acoustic guitar riff to start, but quickly shifts into a pretty cool electric lead guitar riff that sounds great. Stuart Chatwood adds some nice low bass and with Burrows catchy drumming this is a olprrtty cool main riff. Martin sings a solid verse overtop and it leads nicely into a repetitive but decent chorus. Martin plays a simple but cool guitar solo midway through and it sounds like there's two Jeff Martin's at the end with dual vocal tracks overlapping in a solid part. This was a pretty cool tune! The next track is "Apathy" and we even hear Martin say quietly "trippy man", referring to the space-y guitars in the background. Martin sings a nice low verse overtop and Chatwood and Burrows play a really catchy rhythm section. The chorus has some electric guitar that is more standard, but it's still got the same mood to it. After a couple rounds Martin delivers a pretty cool guitar solo and then they play a final chorus and then end things on a very strange note with all kinds of weird keyboards. A weird way to end this solid little song. Track 5 was the album's lead single "Soulbreaking" and Martin plays a light guitar riff backed by some epic liggt keyboards by Chatwood. Martin sings a nice pop-y verse to match the light mood and eventually they settle into a catchy main riff with some string-like keyboards sounding good. There are some electric guitars towards the end, but even though this is a pretty sappy song, they absolutely nail it and things sound very perfect for a single. Up next is the album's other single "Lullaby" and after a music box opening Martin starts a space-y guitar riff, Chatwood adds a cool riff, Martin sings a nice verse and then Burrows completes the riff with a catchy drum beat. When the guitar picks up on the way to the chorus it sounds pretty cool and the chorus builds off this cool riff and sounds pretty solid. I can see why this was chosen as a single, as it's fairly catchy and pretty accessible. Track 7 is "Must Must" and it's got a slow, typical-sounding Tea Party main riff with some Eastern influence and some solid guitar leading the way. The chorus is a little louder and Martin sounds pretty good, but everything is fairly tame with nothing jumping out too much; that is until the guitar solo. Martin delivers an epic and pretty cool solo and Burrows ties it nicely back to the chorus with an epic drum fill. The next track is "White Water Siren" and Martin plays some cool sitar(?), Burrows plays some cool congas and percussion and Martin sings a nice verse overtop this interesting riff. The chorus sounds super epic with some nice guitar, some strings- like keyboards by Chatwood and more cool drums from Burrows, it's a pretty good chorus! They continue to jam in this same style and things sound pretty cool to me, it's a very unique and catchy song! Track 9 is "Cathartik" and Chatowood plays some cool bass to keep the pace, Martin adds some trippy guitar and then sings a perfectly fitting verse that smoothly rolls overtop the music. It's another epic and pretty catchy chorus as well and Martin sounds great overtop a heavier chorus riff. After another solid round Martin plays a not too flashy but mood-fitting guitar solo, then they break down into a nice headbanger of a riff that sounds great, then this is followed by a flashy guitar solo with Martin playing tons of great stuff. This is probably my favourite song on the album, there's all kinds of great and epic stuff, but the final 30 seconds is very out of place and quiet and puts a slight damper on things. Up next is "Dust To Gold" and Chatwood plays a cool bass line in the background of a space-y main riff with Martin singing softly to match the mood. The chorus is louder with some solid guitar and cool drums as well and together things sound pretty solid! Martin delivers an epic guitar solo as well and this is just another pretty cool tune from the Canadian trio! Track 11 is "Requiem" and it starts very quietly before Chatwood finally enters with some slow piano, Martin adds some cool acoustic guitar, Burrows completes things with a fitting drum beat, and then Martin sings a soft verse to match the slow and slightly sappy music. The chorus is louder with some strings adding to the epicness of things. There is some electric guitar eventually, and for a sappy song things sound pretty good, but it is one of the slower songs on the album. The final track on the album is the eight minute "Mantra" and it starts with some very Eastern, trippy noises, but then shifts to a cool main riff with some light but cool guitar and some pretty catchy and cool drums by Burrows. The Eastern influence returns and things sound pretty epic and cool in this verse. The chorus is loud and epic as well and Burrows continues to play some great drums that I find are the highlight, and the rest is pretty cool as well! Around five and a half minutes in the pace picks up a bit with a new toe-tapping and catchy riff that has all the same elements as the main riff, just a little faster and arguably cooler! It ends as it began with more trippy noises and this was a pretty good way to wrap things up I thought.

That is the end of "The Interzone Mantras" and I thought it was another good album by The Tea Party! Most of the songs are above average and interesting, but none of them really amazed me either. I think it's similar in that way to their last album "Triptych", but I like "Triptych" better so this becomes their worst album so far. It's still a high bar though, this was a good album for sure!