A Perfect Circle Mer de Noms [PA]

Included in Rolling Stone's "Top 50 Albums of 2000" - "...A positively ancient metal, a gothic throb that leapfrogs over rap metal back to the sleek PORNOGRAPHY-era dolor of the Cure and psychedlic-Valhalla songs of Led Zep....refreshing darkness."
"...On the ballad '3 Libras', Keenan sings with an elegance few could have imagined..."
"...Less ominous [than Maynard's former band Tool], leavening guitar shrapnel with genuinely pretty melodies and frilly production flourishes - kinda like neo-Metallica, but with 'cojones'." - Rating: A-
4 stars out of 5 - "...Echoes Tool's dark alt.rock dynamics in the stealthy riffing of 'Magdalena' and 'Judith', but it is with gentler songs such as '3 Libras' or the Led Zeppelin-influenced 'Renholder' that [they] truly shine."
"...Offers songs [which] are carefully arranged, less aggressive and almost symphonic in scope, letting [James] Keenan reference religion and sex while biting with ruthless verbal bitch slaps....Merciless."
4 stars out of 5 - "...This is Killing Joke and Jane's Addiction; this is Soundgarden and Alice In Chains; Keenan's gorgeously intimate voice is shoved up front throughout and it's his throat's suckable folds that draw you deeper in..."
7 out of 10 - "...Mystic atmospherics and haunting, uplifting vocals....[They] have created a work of morbid beauty. In terms of darkness, it eclipses nearly everything else."