On their second album, the sneeringly-titled Dropped, Mindfunk make some fairly significant sonic changes while venting a little label-related bitterness, and attempt to separate themselves meaningfully from the funk-metal pack. World-class producer Terry Date delivers the slowed-down grooves in an airtight, vacuum sealed muscular-as-hell package that would presage the work he did for Soundgarden on Badmotorfinger. Its worth comparing the two albums as Dropped does contain more than one obvious nod in the direction of Seattle (and not just because they induct alt.rock's version of Pete Best - Jason Everman - to play second fiddle to Louis J. Svitek's lead guitar).
Opener Goddess, with its excellent riffing and understated solo work, and the insistent, almost middle-eastern drone metal of In The Way Eye are to me the most interesting of this rather lengthy, mostly mid-tempo sophomore set. Having lost drummer extraordinaire Reed St. Mark to Celtic Frost, much of the rhythmic energy and flashy musicianship of their self-titled debut is gone. Lead singer Pat Dubar also completely drops the sleaze-metal act of the first album, opting towards a more honest, naked vocal approach. Stripped down, the songs reveal themselves to be brooding, intensely focused groove monsters that can occasionally end up just slightly on this side of meandering. The downbeat mood is enhanced by the solemn but sumptuous packaging (most impressively displayed in the vinyl version).
The album's biggest sin is its sameness, and towards the latter fourth of the album it starts to get a little long in the tooth. Mama, Moses and Me is probably the only track that recalls the manic energy of the debut, more often than not replaced with more moody, solemn work like Drowning. Solid, almost classy in some ways, but it could have really used one or two more uptempo tunes and a few of the psychedelic excesses shaved from the third album.