There is a small – tiny, miniscule, insignificant – part of me that wants to herald Natsumen as the greatest thing known to man. I love progressive rock. I love math rock. I love noise rock. I love psychedelic rock. I love all things loud, cacophonous, and chaotic. In other words, I love all things that Natsumen represents. If anybody, then, should love Natsumen, it should be me.

But I don't. Not at all.

Their latest effort, ONExMORExSUMMERxSHIT!!!, is one disappointment after another. There are three "songs" on this album, and I use the term very very lightly. The first track consists of nothing but moaning, panting, and Japanese screaming, "080110" sounds like nails on a chalkboard, and "070917" is nothing but the chirping of insects and a subtly jarring creaking sound.

The only three tracks which could even be accurately described as songs aren't much better. "No Reason Up to the Death", one of those three, is a whirlwind of rolls, flutes, flat out noise, and, for a few brief seconds, is also brilliant. In the middle of the eight-minute odyssey, and again at the end, there is a glorious moment of melody and structure. But that's all: just a moment, a glimpse, a flash of what could have been.

It is worth noting that a new rhythm section would do Natsumen a lot of good. Math rock is notorious for questionable drumming, but ONExMORExSUMMERxSHIT!!! takes it to a whole new level. The snare roll is the single most overused trope on the album, and instead of a beat, drummer "Maseeta" settles for fill after fill after interminable fill until the listener is desensitized. I don't think I can stress just how terrible the percussion is. There is no semblance of timing, and it sounds like the drums were recorded completely independently of the rest of the sections. Many producers prefer to record each part without any of the players knowing what the others are up to. When executed properly , the results can be brilliant, as on The Mars Volta's Frances The Mute. ONExMORExSUMMERxSHIT!!! feels like it represents the other extreme – when good techniques and good ideas go terribly, terribly wrong.

Closer "The Shit" is the best cut on the release, and yet it seems like a bit of an afterthought, clocking in at less than two minutes. Perhaps this is precisely why it is successful, however, because Natsumen didn't have to flesh it out to nine minutes of masturbatory noodling.

Maybe I'm being needlessly harsh. Maybe that other part of me is right. Maybe Natsumen is brilliant and I'm close-minded.

Maybe, but probably not.

-Andy Kissner