Reviews April 2005

Voice of Reason, c/o Stefan Muench, Dreihalde 15, 73527 Hussenhofen, Germany

BORN FROM PAIN – In Love With The End (CD / Metal Blade)

This record has “Hatebreed” written all over it. I´m sure that these five guys don´t like to hear that, but I think it´s obvious that Tuff Guy Hardcore is not some style that offers the widest range of variety. To get straight to the point: That´s my main problem with the Tuff Guy sound. Songs 1 to 7 are one single moshpart and the thing is that there are very few possibilities how to vary stomping sounds. That´s just how it is and that´s fine for kids who want to demonstrate their kickboxing style in the pit but I´m asking myself where a possible development of that sound might lead to. Let´s be honest: For some years we have been listening to the same moshparts over and over again and I don´t think that I´m the only one who´s getting tired of that. I mean, I don´t expect bands like Until The End or Throwdown to reinvent music and of course, there are some absolutely amazing Tuff Guy releases around, but I think it´s just time to make one step ahead. But let´s get back to “In Love With The End”: The sound is killer and the power and aggression of the songs grabs you by the throat. As I said: The first seven songs are all pretty slow and moshing but songs 8 and 9 offer some highly welcomed speed parts. Here and there BORN FROM PAIN are trying to break out of the limits of Tuff Guy Hardcore with some melodic guitars which is really refreshing. Maybe this is something they should keep working on in the future. So “In Love With The End” mainly is a typical but one of the better Tuff Guy releases and will ease the waiting for a new Hatebreed album. (Tobi)

LOSA – The Perfect Moment (CD / Metal Blade)

“The Perfect Moment” really took me by surprise! The info mentions The Dillinger Escape Plan and Converge and I wasn´t expecting something too good because I absolutely don´t like these two bands. BUT…LOSA´s debut album has nothing to do with T.D.E.P. or Converge. Okay, “The Perfect Moment” is a mix between Metal and Hardcore but it´s not that chaotic pseudo-artistic Newschool stuff and it´s not another Gothenburg-influenced Metalcore release. Most of the ten songs are pretty slow and, yes, they´re quite technical and, yes, they´re spreading a psychopathic feeling. But it´s more like an aggressive mix between Zao and Tool (Listen to “Church Of Pitted Vipers”). No, “The Perfect Moment” is not a rip-off, it´s just that the intensity of the songs reminds me of these bands. That´s reason enough to check out this new band in my eyes. So go ahead! (Release date: 18.05.2005) (Tobi)

THE RED CHORD – Clients (CD / Metal Blade)

I´ve been waiting quite long for an album like this: Technical and highly diverse but not causing that headache that makes you want to rip the CD out of the player and throw it out of the window. What we get on “Clients” is a highly explosive mixture of Grind, Hardcore and some Death Metal with a lot of speed variations and some very technical parts that sometimes remind me of a better version of Cattle Decapitation. Ten out of the eleven songs will make all of those lick their fingers who are also into Nasum and early Brutal Truth, I´m sure about that. The last song “He was dead when I got there” is a seven minute instrumental which is something like the quiet after the storm: I think it´s totally in the way of Metallica´s instrumentals and would have been a highlight on “Load”. One more thing: Zeuss did an amazing job and “Clients” is the best sounding album I´ve heard lately. (Release date: 18.05.2005) (Tobi)

THE RED DEATH – External Frames Of Reference (CD / Metal Blade)

It´s amazing where all those new Metalcore bands come from. There seems to be a neverending stream of Metalcore bands that no one ever heard of and that are waiting to step into the light. THE RED DEATH are a five-piece from the U.S. and “External Frames Of Reference” is their debut on Metal Blade Records after last year´s “Aftertaste Of The Emaciated” on Crooked Halo Records. This is all new to me because I´ve never heard of THE RED DEATH before. So I´ve been quite curious about what these guys have to offer, since most of Metal Blade´s Metalcore-releases have been of high quality. Of course, THE RED DEATH are playing Metalcore. That´s not too exciting, but beneath all those melodic Death Metal guitars there´s a big Thrash Metal influence, which I appreciate a lot. Sometimes I feel reminded of THE RED DEATH´s labelmates Neaera: The song structures, a hysterically screaming singer…it´s just the combination of everything THE RED DEATH have to offer. But the thing is: I like Neaera better. Some of the songs on “External Frames Of Reference” are not really fluent (listen to the beginning of the opening song) and I don´t really need the blastparts. All in all “External Frames Of Reference” is a solid album but it remains to be seen if that´s enough to get some higher attention. (Tobi)

SIX FEET UNDER – 13 (CD / Metal Blade)

SIX FEET UNDER  again. I know that a lot of people have been waiting for this new album with sweaty hands and I´m sure that all the fans will be very happy with “13”. Fans of this Florida-based four-piece will get what they expected: No experiments, typical Chris Barnes-vocals, simple structured Death Metal and a veeeeeeeery basic sound. Personally, for me, it´s just another SIX FEET UNDER album. “Haunted” was a classic album and they never reached that level again (Too bad!). The following albums were solid Death Metal but nothing outstanding and contained some good songs and a lot of boring tunes. I can´t help it but most of the songs on “13” don´t touch me at all. Especially the sound leaves the impression that the guys have been somewhat uninspired and not very enthusiastic working in the studio. Maybe next time they should hire a “real” producer instead of Chris Barnes turning the knobs himself. As I said before: “13” once again is a solid album and fans will go crazy as always, but I´m not really into it. (Tobi) (I never, never, NEVER understood why people are into SFU. I mean, come on, this band is soooo boring. Is this what people think Death Metal is about?? They should better listen to some REAL Death Metal and not this clowns. - Stefan)