There’s a whole bunch of music exploding out of Chicagoland lately, up to and including our previous review of the Afrofuturistics. One can only hope that there will be more and more, and that this becomes a new developmental scene, the like of which we’ve not had since the eruption of Montreal, circa 2009.
As for Coyote Man, the (largely) instrumental power prior from the Windy City, they’ve dropped their new full-length on the world, Prosthetic Memories. It promises to carry the freight for artistically-leaning instru-metal through a combination of creative blending and well-practiced sensibilities.
Cutting to the quick, I wish there was more to this record. To come to the band’s defense in some regard, it’s hard enough to write one instrumental, let alone an album full of them, which is likely why we see so few artists attempt it (John 5 and Mountain of Wizard notwithstanding.) It’s a tricky enterprise, trying to tell a story without words, often best left to the Tom and Jerry’s of the world, which can lean into the visual medium to help move the narrative along.
And all that is to say that Prosthetic Memories starts off with great promise - lead single “Coping Mechanism” begins something like an irradiated “Baba O’Riley,” as though the 45 single of the latter song were played on 78 (kids, ask your parents, or possibly, sigh, your grandparents, what the hell we’re talking about.) The aural similarity is complete and convenient enough that it must be intentional, yeah? A lovingly tongue-in-cheek tribute to one of the most distinct album openings of all time.
From there we go into “War Hatchet,” which moves with a nice pace, and then the central chug that might as well serve as the refrain for the piece rocks with the same cadence and thump of Static-X’s “Push It.” To the degree that it’s uncanny.
Sigh…therein lies the rub with Coyote Man’s new album - they’re at their best when they sound like somebody else.
The remaining tracks are fine for what they are, but as discussed, it’s damn hard to write an album’s length of compelling instrumentals, especially in the absence of a true hook or gimmick. To use the artists referenced above, John 5 has his obvious virtuosity, and Mountain of Wizard is catchy and creative, stretching into all the corners of blues-based rock with a clean guitar tone and memorable licks.
Coyote Man is shooting for something more ethereal and cerebral than that, a sound more akin to the (probably forgotten by most,) progressive metal band Prototype, but in the absence of a vocalist to convey a central theme, Prosthetic Memories finds difficulty holding attention.
Just when you think damn, this needs a singer to push the narration, one appears for the final song “Faith in a Burning Room”…but it doesn’t really make a difference. The die have been cast at that point.
To circle back, Prosthetic Memories isn’t a band record - it just needs more. There’s a lot of meat still on this bone that Coyote Man could have explored. Their talent and capability are unquestionable, but for this record, they’ve not found an inspirational footing.
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