Because Good Music Needs to Be Shared - oveourotherarth by LYME


Artist: LYME
Album Title: oveourotherarth
Release Year: 2001
Label: Bongsai Records
Country: Malaysia
Keyword: Art metal, fusion metal, funk metal
Bitrate: 128

Released in the fourth quarter of 2001, this debut and the only album from one of Malaysia's premier fusion metal band covers on such wide-ranging musical styles that it takes more than one listen for you to properly get your head round it. But perhaps the one thing that LYME deserves to be remembered for is their undivided commitment to the D.I.Y. ethos, in which they carried through right until today - if their Myspace page is to be believed. Furiously hardworking, it is already a triumph of some sort when they finally managed to press and release their debut album, all on their own without much help from other underground record labels that were around around that time (and there are quite a few).

Formed in mid-1997, the band consists of two Venezuelan brothers Javier "Cheez" Badillo (vocals) and Victor "V-man-tor" Badillo (guitar), Britain-raised Pakistani Moez Khan (drums), and Azman "Boy" Ali (bass), the only local-based member in the band who hails from the East Coast state of Terengganu. Ardent followers of the underground movement (and gig goers) of the late 90's and early Aughts will probably still remember the band's wildly entertaining and energetic performances all throughout from 1998 to 2001 before sadly real world takes its toll on this talented quartet and brings LYME as an entity down on its' knees.

Though the band have been absent for almost a decade now, the band still maintains that they are on an indefinite hiatus. Well, there are some indication that the band hasn't given up yet, supported by the fact that their webpage is still up and running (do check it out), but we here at G.M.Z. can only wonder when will they make a comeback.

The album, oveourotherarth, has already been long out of print, and even a trip to second hand CD shops in the Klang Valley results in disappointment (limited run of 1000 copies also contributes to that factor, which makes this a rare find to boot). If you find yourself scratching your head over how to pronounce that title and what the heck it means, here's a helping hand from us (remember that the band's name is LYME?):

(L)ove(Y)our(M)other(E)arth

Voila. Yes, they even have one song called "The Trees (Wood Craft)" which opened with the line "And the trees did not fight back / For hands they did not have". But perhaps the centerpiece of this album is the leading single off of it called "Commode Abode", which opens with a Bob Marley's line "Sun is shining / The weather is sweet / Makes me wanna move / My dancing feet". Then Cheez proceeded on about having a shop that sells prostitute brains, talking about the various type of brains that his shop carries and the many uses that his potential customer can get from it, before he started to sprouting political one-liners such as "power in the hands of many is the fairest power of all", and "a little stone killed Goliath / Troy was conquered with only one horse", and right before he ends with a little story about his toilet company. Sounds a little crazy? Perhaps yes. But fun too all the while.

P/S: This album also features an additional 13th track called "Things That Go Bump in the Night", a Halloween song that was featured in a compilation album we have forgotten what it was called. Sorry.

For a review of one song from the album (track #2 "Something) on the image below:


Get the full album.