This is about the truth. About standing in your infections and your disappointments, about embracing them. Rise above and grow. This is what it is to be a Tallman.
In 1999, Tallman formed in Toronto. Their self-produced and self-financed debut effort, Inoculation, has been said to have the scent of Tool, Deftones, and Alice in Chains, but with their own unique sensation. These are easy comparisons: many others could have been made. Adam Sewell of The Fang Magazine described their music as "moody, brooding and trippy and still very heavy", going on to say that "Tallman have carved out a place in the modern metal frontier that seems to be truly their own right now." The seed had been planted.
The success of this first release was impressive: two of the singles climbed to #1 on mp3.com, while visually stunning, energetic live shows earned Tallman overwhelming response from sold-out crowds at Toronto's premier venues. The dynamics were there: truth had sprouted and begun to grow.
Following on the success of Inoculation, Tallman recorded a 3-song demo with the assistance of Producer Danny Deane and Engineer Phil Donaldson. The demo featured the smoldering single "Cope", the fan favorite "Livid", and an updated version of the mp3.com #1 single "Paperweight". Airplay began: singles were spun on Toronto's top new music station, Edge102, and in clubs throughout the city. Tendrils reached out, wrapping themselves around, tightening and spreading upwards.
Dark blooms sprouted and opened. With the strength of their two studio recordings and live shows, Tallman formed a partnership with Mike Apted and started the production label Aperture Music in June 2001.
This strength also brought them to the attention of Producer Sylvia Massy Shivy (Tool, Deftones, Powerman 5000). She felt the emotion. Volatile oils escaped and spread. The truth was beginning to leak.
In August and September of 2001, Tallman and Sylvia produced their new full-length studio album, Mechanism. Recorded with Engineer Rich Veltrop (Slayer, Corrosion of Conformity) at Radio Star Studios in Weed, California, mixed by Sylvia at Phase One Studios in Toronto, and mastered by Howie Weinberg (Nirvana [Nevermind]; Soundgarden [Badmotofinger]; Deftones [White Pony]; Smashing Pumpkins [Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness]), Mechanism is the next step in Tallman's evolution. It's a strange comfort, Mechanism: the soothing wash, the small bones of the ears jarring and humming as glands secrete and absorb.
Mechanism contains a total of 11 tracks, including new recordings of the successful singles "Cope", "Livid", and "Paperweight", and new songs like the incendiary "Stumblepit" and the haunting "Iodine". Mechanism spreads: alive and breathing in its own confusion between light and dark; hope and despair; truth and fear. It hurts and yet it all makes sense, this wonderful decay.
Brother Bill of Edge102 says about Mechanism: "Tallman's debut album is a trip. It's a trip along the lines of good and evil, life and death, right and wrong. Tallman is right. Tallman is good. Tallman is the future, and the future is NOW!" The scent is heavy in the air, and such effusive praise embraces the truth.
The growth of Tallman is an ongoing process. They progress, and their niche widens and fills. They will tour heavily; the truth will prevail. There is no other way.
