Review by Felix on September 16, 2020.

Albums of Serbian’s leading black metal force are always somewhat challenging in view of their complexity and the foreign language. Honestly speaking, I apologize for the 7.6 I gave to Teatar Apsurda. At the time of my review I had not yet fully realized its quality that actually demanded an 8+ rating. However, I tried to give Marлa (“The Fog”) many chances, because I did not want to make the same mistake again. The result is that I still think the albums of The Stone ask for my full attention, but they are definitely worth listening – even though they are not flawless.

Maybe Marлa reveals the typical problem I have with the works of the Serbians. It’s no big deal and maybe the term “problem” sounds too negative. What I want to say is The Stone put everything they have, can and know into each and every song. The overflow of ideas leads to the almost tragic result that at the end of the day, the songs suffer from certain uniformity and a lack of recognition value. Don’t get me wrong, they are still good songs, but I always have the feeling the band could do it better in view of its enormous potential. All songs of the A side present the whole spectrum of the band. A flood of bulky riffs is combined with relatively abrupt breaks and tempo changes, while the omnipresent vehemence does not really know ups and downs. This Serbian way of blackness is amazing, individual and – in rare moments – exhausting. A good idea does not automatically serve the respective song in every case and if I would be the manager of the squadron, I would like to give them the order to check their ideas again and again whether or not they fit the song context. I would also be happy if they would vary the degree of intensity. Marлa is intense, dense and vigorous, but the consistent level of metallic belligerence makes it difficult to realize the real force of the band’s material. However, I am pretty sure they can be happy that I am not their manager.

Only six tracks result in an album with a playtime of more than 44 minutes. This alone illustrates the ambitions of the horde from Belgrade. It’s great to see that all songs of the A side as well as 'Moon’s Ray' (forgive me for using the English translation) have many thrilling sequences. I am absolutely sure that every line-up member has put heart and soul into the recordings for this work. Later releases of The Stone have shown that the band has learned to realize its visions in a more focused way. But in this pretty early status of their career, they were seemingly surrounded by fog sometimes – and this made it obviously nearly impossible to always find the right track. (But it would be a daring thesis to say this was the fog that gave the album its name…). All in all, the vinyl from 2006 is an authentic, prickly and defiant output. It scores with a defiant production which avoids severe deficiencies. Every black metal fan who likes interwoven songs will enjoy this album, no doubt about it. Simple-minded dudes such as me pay respect to this release and identify a lot of good moments without being fully convinced.

Rating: 7 out of 10

Review by Adam M on December 18, 2010.

This album is somewhat of an oddity. It has a mechanical sound that is relatively straightforward, but certainly weird. The band has similarities to unsual bands like Voivod or Gojira that have an abnormal take on the metal genre. There is a nod to the outfit Prong as well, who wrote one of the more interesting songs here, 'Irrelevant Thoughts', and they have a similar industrial beat.

Indeed, there are a lot of abrupt musings on this disc and though they’re sometimes interesting, the band could have pushed into further areas of innovation. The second track 'White Light Response' seems to establish the band’s unique take on metal reasonably well and songs like 'The Potential To…' cement the kind of style the band are going for effectively. Percussion plays a large role in these songs with trance like beats that are performed. At times the songs are neat and maintain interest, but at others the album is slightly on the boring side. Project: Failing Flesh display some groove and rhythm at times, but at others the songs push along at a mundane pace.

The band should try to put as many interesting ideas into their song as possible because they are going for an oddball style anyways. Sometimes the music here is too conservative and thus not as interesting as it could be. The music is tight enough and the vocals are passable, if a little rough around the edges. Overall, the music of Project: Failing Flesh is competent, but underwhelming. If the band wants to push their music in a unique direction, they should push themselves even further. Listeners looking for obtuse metal compositions might find something to like here, however.

Categorical Rating Breakdown

Musicianship: 7
Atmosphere: 6
Production: 7
Originality: 6
Overall: 6.5

Rating:6.5 out of 10

Review by JD on June 9, 2009.

What really gets the blood pumpin’ throughout the average rocker’s body is not much of a secret if you think of it rationally. It is booze induced, hard blues tinged down and very dirty swaggering metallic laced sonic beatdown.. That is what does it... and the name for all of this is the Robot Lords Of Tokyo.

This Ohio based threesome seem to be trying to be this evil spawned mixture of Black Label Society meeting Black Sabbath and Skid Row while channelling the spirit of Dimebag Darrell(RIP) as they all sway under a heavy night of Jack Daniels consumption and a whole shit load of attitude. That is exactly the most honest way to describe what this band is.

From the start of the album with the strange intro of ‘The Mergatroid’ to wicked cover of the forgotten Kiss classic 'Larger Than Life’ and other songs... all you want to do while the album is playing is to party, have a hell of a great time and then repeat those steps over and over again.

So in an nut shell you buy the album, put out a call for a massive party and then rent killer stereo and let it all come together. You will wake up with a massive hangover, with a lovely young thing that is not your significant other and the sense that you had the best time of your life. The soundtrack was provided by the Robot Lords themselves. This is a band built for the purest form of low class fun, showing that a band of Biker rats can rock harder and way more meaner than mostly anyone out there.

They are in that ‘Low-class’ all on their own. Perfect, aren’t they? Low brow does not mean no talent... and the Lords do that!

Categorical Rating Breakdown

Musicianship: 8.5
Atmosphere: 9
Production: 8.5
Originality: 8
Overall: 9

Rating: 8.6 out of 10