Music ReviewGenre Metal3 out of 5 stars

We all respond to pain differently. Some endure it and go on. Some do what they can to avoid it. Some wallow in it. Others lash out violently at it.

Otep Shamaya, through the band that shares her name, chooses the latter.

With a style that would lend itself seamlessly to the next “Resident Evil” movie, Otep prides itself on not being afraid to experiment.

In the words of the band’s bio, “to be willing to risk everything to really express it all . . . we must dare to fail.” And in some instances, they succeed in doing just that.

The method of delivery is a nightmarish blend of eerie atmospheres, murderous melodies, and enough anger-laden vocals to satiate the crowd that infests the nouveaux-metal genre.

From the beginning of the album, we are ushered into a lucid prologue in which a woman recounts her sexual assault when she was thirteen years old.

“An eye turned over and there he was holding a pillow he smelled of sweat & regret and he said. . . . shhhhhhhhhhhhhhh.”

Immediately, an explosion of hatred and violence careen into what is the first song, “Blood Pigs,” a retaliation on her assailant.

This vendetta for his cowardice and betrayal is delivered with the force of a train wreck.

Shamaya’s vocals are a multi-faceted body of work and she’s not afraid to try something others may shy away from.

This has both positive and negative results. Her vocals can be inconsistent at times, particularly the death metal growl.

The bludgeoning guitar riffs of Rob (that’s it, just Rob) range from spacey, dark textures, to bouncing grooves to a blazing battery of speed to even funk-laden pockets.

The drums, manned by Moke (mo-kee) are solid and do an excellent job of bringing up the rest of the band.

Evil J, the bassist, likes to sit in the shadows, popping up here and there to round out the quartet.

The music is a gathering of several metal forms, mostly standard fare. However, there are occasional glimpses of potential that belie their somewhat generic execution.

In other words, if you give it a chance, it may very well grow on you.One demonstration of what this band is capable of is its creation of mood and atmosphere. “T.R.I.C.,” the fourth track, has a horrific creep that slowly builds to an immense wall of anxiety and exasperation, fueling the desperation in Shamaya’s voice.

It’s almost as if she’s being buried alive while retaining consciousness.The seventh track, “Emtee,” conjures dark ambient textures and a lonely piano rhythm that walks with a fragile vocal.

It gives the listener a sense of walking down a long corridor in a bad dream, only to turn into convulsive fits of escape.

Overall, this is a decent album with some finer moments that may be explored and fine-tuned the next time around.

If you like Slipknot, Mudvayne or Godsmack, this may fit well into your collection.