| CD REVIEW Fear My Thoughts |
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Band : Fear My Thoughts As usual when I'm confronted wit the review of an album by a band which is completely new for me, I go out on the Net to find as much info as possible from a variety of sources. That's how I found out that in their beginning days, Fear My Thoughts' musical leanings were more towards Melodic Death Metal...a direction which was to change to a melodic Metalcore over the years. It all started in the city of Rheinfelden (Germany) in 1997, when former Parracide guitarist Patrick Hagman assembled the band with singer Mathias Ockl, bassist Bartosz Wojciechowski, and drummer Alexander Kovats, a line-up to which soon after were added second guitarist Marco Allenstein and violinist Lisa Graf. The latter was apparently the first to break away from the fold, Allenstein replaced by Marcus Ruf prior to the band's debut full-length. Along the way, the band not only moved to make the city of Freiburg their future basis of operations, but had the drum seat taken over by Norman Lonhard (no detail available on either two facts), and last year saw the exit of the old singer in favour of new frontman Martin Fischer. Concerning recordings, FMT made its official debut by getting their song "My Mind" on the 1998 We Bite Records compilation Stand As One. In 2000 followed two EPs (My Strength, My Weakness on Capeet Recordings, and Sapere Aude on the Dioxin City Productions imprint). The band signed to Let It Burn, who were to release 2001's full-length debut 23 and 2003's Vitriol (which would have a guest performance by former Destruction singer Thomas Rosenmerkel on the title track). 2003 also brought This Machine Runs On Fear, a split release on the Scorched Earth Policy label album with Fear Is The Path To The Dark Side. A new deal was now struck with Lifeforce, who would issue 2004's The Great Collapse and July 2005's "Hell Sweet Hell (the compilation Smell Sweet Smell 2001-2002 would follow that same year, but I am uncertain on which label that was issued). That December the band would join the Spirit X-Mass tour dates throughout Europe alongside Caliban, Maroon, and Neaera. And in 2006 the band went another step up the corporate ladder by signing to Century Media for the release of their January 2007 album Vulcanus (which had guest appearances from Destruction frontman Schmier and guitarist Mike Sifringer on the song "Accelerate Or Die"). Coinciding with the release, the band joined Kataklysm, Neaera, and Quo Vadis on the Road To Devastation tour throughout Europe. So, now the band is fronted by one Martin Fischer, and though the band doés have some songs available on their MySpace page with the old singer, I haven't had the time to make a comparison. Martin has a somewhat hoarse but versatile voice, which goes from a melodic clean raw to a more aggressive mode, with an occasional touch of Black in the screams (most apparent in the song "Creeping Lord"). Martin also plays some organ, synth, and piano, used primarily to add a touch of bombastic in some of the more aggressive passages, and to give some intros a rather creepy atmosphere! Take the short album opening title track, for instance: wacky sound effects make it unclear just whàt instrument is being played, until you hear a piano and atmospheric organ, and underneath you get a distorted vocal contribution to boot. The way it is brought makes you wonder what's being said, and at the same you're afraid to find out...know the feeling? The intro flows seemlessly into album opening song "The Blind Walk Over The Edge", which opens deliciously bombastic with the addition of that orchestral organ on top (it returns throughout the song, but with other effect). In my opinion, this is immediately the most effectively melodic song on the album, and this thanks to the lead singer, who refrains from going into screams but remains in a more clean mode. Not so with the partially more straight-forward (no keyboards included) ensuing "The Hunted", which holds the first screamed singing (and yes, that with a véry slight Blackened touch). But the song also contains a calmer break-down, which eventually puts it in a positive light. "Numbered By The Beast" is the first song to bring in a new influence from '70 Hard Rock and Progressive Rock, as mentioned in the biography the label gave us with the promo copy. Mind you, the whole is brought with the necessary modern aggression. Vocally, the song may be somewhat more unilateral, but in fact that goes down very well with the overall feel of the track. "Bound And Weakened" then, opens with Martin in his most sedate mode, but moving along with the alternating aggression of the track. Arguably the most hit potential song on the album, but also one of the simpler ones! Well, I can't go on to tell you something about each and every of the 11 tracks on the album...oh, forgot to tell you that the jewel was recorded in a very DIY manner, the album recorded by Hagman at the band's own Black Halo Studios, Ruf doing the artwork concept and design, and Fischer composing and playing all synth and organ parts...but the boys díd get help from renouned Swedish producer Daniel Bergstrand (previously active with In Flames, Meshuggah, Scarce, Soilwork, and Strapping Young Lad to name but a few), who was hired to do the vocal recordings and mix the album. Listen to the songs "The Hunted" and "Bound And Weakened" at myspace.com/fearmythoughts (personally, I would've added either "The Blind..." or the aforementioned "Creeping Lord" – in my eyes the most interesting songs on the album) as a foretaste of the album. Then, wait around for the release, hope your local record shop will have a copy of the album in store, have an additionallistening session of the other songs, and be bewildered of the truly nice new musical influences this band has incorporated in their music in an effort to evolve even more. After all, without evolution there's stagnation, right? 98/100 Tony.
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