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Aversion Online
10/01/2003
Damn! This is some pretty fucking hard-hitting metalcore from Iceland. I was sort of expecting straightforward old school styled hardcore, but this is much heavier and more forceful, without leaning too far towards metal. There's definitely a NYHC sort of thing going on: Basic chord progressions, gang backup vocals, a little bit of chugging groove, that type of stuff. But then "I Wish" shows a more melodic sensibility and there are some solos and stuff. "Blame Game" is one of the most powerful songs, throwing in some singing vocals with a strong mix of the band's harder side and their melodic side. The same goes for "Where it All Makes Sense", which infuses some vocal harmonies and a slight pop punk via Shai Hulud type of influence. "Wanted to Say So Much More" takes their variety to another level as the poppiest track herein, almost leaning towards what I would dare call a heavy emo style!? Every few minutes they turn another corner… there are some big surprises in here. The production is great. The drums are crisp and natural, the bass tone rips, the guitars are heavy and clear, and the vocals are mixed in nicely with the music. I don't really have any gripes, or at least nothing is immediately popping into my head. The layout consists solely of black and white xeroxes with some live band photos. They did include all of the lyrics and song explanations, though. The lyrics cover the same topics as most any hardcore band, but I like their honesty, and they best exemplify this with the brief but truthful "That's All It Is": "This is it. Here we go again. Think I've heard this one before. Sounds like 'Crucified' but still we play this song. We don't fucking care 'cause all this is… it's hardcore… in the end. We love it. No need to pretend." It may seem cheesy, but that's about as forthright as you can get. The song explanations are equally honest, not only dictating that the topics range from mindless consumerism to treating people as equals, but also making statements like, "This is by far the cheesiest and most unoriginal song we ever wrote. Ha!" I mean, you won't find many bands who are open enough to point that out, and I think it's cool that these guys will. This is a CD-R, and I get the impression from looking at the band's website that the actual release is a CD with real packaging and not wimpy xeroxes. I hope that's the case, because the music is definitely worthy of more than what I've got in front of me. I don't know why they sent it to me in this fashion if this isn't the proper release. I can't be sure if that's the case or not, but I'd give this a higher rating if the presentation was more professional. I'd definitely like to hear more from this band in the future. There's some good shit going on in Iceland…
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