Metal Underground.com

There's a lot going on on Meris' "Abandon All," ranging from moments of poppy, punk-infused material to "Load"-era Metallica riffs and guitar and drum parts that bring Mastodon to mind. It's regrettable, though, that with so much thrown at the wall, very little of it manages to stick. It isn't that "Abandon All" is bad, it's just that much of it simply isn't very memorable.

Instrumentally, this California-based trio definitely brings some impressive skills. Sean Hugunin's vocals are more than adequate to the task in hand, and his intricate guitar playing on tracks like "Dungeons" and the instrumental "Agony And Ecstasy" is quite impressive.

Drummer Brad Roberts contributes some excellent fills on tracks like the Mastodon-flavored "As You Wish" and the aforementioned "Dungeons." Eli Atkinson's bass-playing effectively bridges the melodic gap between Roberts and Hugunin.

After a promising start with "Blood Of The Bison," things go a bit south with tracks like the overly simple "Distortionist," which is reminiscent of Metallica in the mid-1990s, as is the sludgy "Doris." "Beloved Oblivion" has an almost punk-rock feel in places. The album reaches its nadir with "Another Stupid Song," which tries a bit too hard for irony with its "we are the rock stars" chorus.

Things get better in the last half, with the more pronounced Mastodon feel making its way into "Mutually Assured Destruction," "Dungeons" and "As You Wish." The speedy "Rid Me Of Misery" is an OK ender, with Hugunin definitely channeling James Hetfield in the vocals.

This isn't a bad album by any means, but it is a somewhat frustrating one. Excellent musicianship goes a long way toward rehabilitating the band's lack of memorable riffs and melodies, but the fact of the matter is that there's not much on Meris' "Abandon All" that will stick with listeners.