Curl Up & Die's full-length debut is an album that is excessively savage and thoroughly insane, yet for these reasons it surely will be heralded as a visionary masterpiece of technical brutality.
Unfortunately, We're Not Robots is an apt title, as
Curl Up & Die goes above and beyond with staggering time changes and extraordinary breakdowns that leave the listener speechless and slightly exhausted. Machines could not possibly devise such devastating musical menace. Reversely, the double-bass thrash seems almost impossible to be remotely capable of one human, as is quite apparent on "Ted Nugent Goes AOL."
Curl Up & Die's relentless assault on one's ears is less effective on their shorter songs, yet when given time to expand their ideas, the end result is unforgiving, such as the album's two best songs, "You'd Be Cuter if I Shot You in the Face" and "Rich Hall (Runner Up in a Carson Daly Lookalike Contest)." After listening to these songs, one can accurately consider
Unfortunately, We're Not Robots to be the first tangible ball of chaos ever created. This Las Vegas trio shows much growth since the release of their
The Only Good Bug Is a Dead Bug EP in 2001, and with
Converge's Kurt Ballou handling production, this album succeeds in destroying
Curl Up & Die's competition. One of the most daring, and arguably one of the best, metalcore albums to be released in 2002,
Unfortunately, We're Not Robots is an unpredictable album that will keep the listener entranced until the last guitar crunch and programmed blip. ~ Jason D. Taylor