So, I'm just gonna come right out and say it, I didn't really dig the first Kingdom of Sorrow record. I love Hatebreed, I love Crowbar, and I love Down. Yet, this supergroup just didn't do it for me. I can tell you exactly what it was, too. Jamey Jasta's style just did not fit in the sludge genre. Jasta needs fist pumping anthems. He needs speed, whereas Kirk Windstein's guitar playing is all about groove, and heaviness. Even now that Hatebreed has gone a little more metal with their last record, it's still all about a hammering cadence. Sludge metal is all about drawing it out. Long, low wails instead of quick violent bursts. The riffs were pretty great, but overall, it just didn't work for me. It seemed as if Hardcore and Sludge were like water and sludge, they wouldn't mix.
Having said this, I still had high hopes that this new record 'Behind the Blackest Tears' would come together. Would they either speed it up to work with the vocals, or would Jasta adjust his style to fit the grooves. I was hoping for the latter, but would have settled for the former. Turns out, they struck a great note by taking both routes.
The record starts out with some pretty great, straight-forward sludge in 'Enlightened to Extinction', right away Jamey gets the vocals right, dragging out his shouts, and just slowing things down a little bit. The next three songs continue this trend, keeping it heavy and slow. Fans of Down will find these riffs familiar, but still find a few curveballs.
That's when things pick up a bit, with 'Envision the Divide'. We get some pretty cool hardcore style riffs, allowing Jasta to show his proficiency for hardcore vocals, while still dragging out quite a few awesome wails. This is a fist-pumper for sure, and catchy as the flu.
The high-point of the record, though, is 'From Heroes to Dust', a slow, melodic outing that is southern as grits. It really has an awesome Pantera vibe that I'm a sucker for. I can see myself air-guitaring the solo quite a few times. No, I'm not embarrassed about air-guitaring. This song alone is worth the price of the record.
So, there you have it. A solid, solid record that showcases what these guys have to offer. Here's a taste.
If you don't like that, there's something wrong with you. I'm just sayin'.
3.5/4
No comments:
Post a Comment