Oh man, the whole year of 1999 I had to wait for this
record... It was horrible... I ordered one record, from a band called Blindside
R.I.P., released last year on an indie-label, hoping to get some rare
recordings, but it seemed to be a really bad metal-core-rip-off... So, I almost
got desperate until I heard the album was available in December '99 in the European
version... I ordered it straight away and I was really, really curious what this
band's follow-up to their smashing self-titled debut (sold 15,000 copies),
should sound like... Man, do I love this first
record !! I saw them playing live once in my life and that was even better...
So, you can tell that I was absolutely pumped about hearing this record. I
remember getting this record on a late night, sitting in one room with the guys
of Soapbox (their Swedish mates, who are on Sally Forth Records) in my room. I
listened punk-music all day and I was finally able to put on this record. The
album kicks off with the awesome song "Vow Of Silence", a hard-kickin'
blend of punk and rap-core, setting the standard for this record. After this
song they take back some gas with "As You Walk" (yes, violins
& cello's !!), a terrific record which shows the main improvement on this
album: the production is way better than on the debut.
The 3rd song, "King Of The Closet", is
the "hit" of this album, and no wonder why... This song just has
everything a good song needs... I can't stop praisin' it. This album is a bit
harder than the first album and the variety of this album has been replaced by a
continuous stream of groovy metal-core in the vein of Deftones, KoRn and Project
86. There are quite a few breaks in the songs as well, with the emo-feeling we
know so well from their debut... There's more room for experiments and musical
parts and that makes this record better than the debut. It's more difficult,
though, and it doesn't have a lot of "radio"-songs on it as well...
So, it's best to listen this record over and over again. You won't be
disappointed by this band (the best Swedish band ever ???) because every time
you listen the record you'll hear new details, musical parts and difficult
song-structures. Punk, Hardcore, Metal, Rap and Classical music come together on
this amazing record: A THOUGHT CRUSHED MY MIND.
Only one thought is in my mind: when will I see this band playing live again ???
10 points out of 10 !!!!
Karel Smouter
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