| CD REVIEW Crisis Never Ends |
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Band : Crisis Never Ends Stuttgart’s Metalcore quintet Crisis Never Ends (actually they’re from Baden-Württemberg, almost 40 kms from central Stuttgart, in SW direction) debutes in February 1999 with a demo, one track off which brought the band some exposure being featured on a local compilation album. Their next release would take some time to come, the split (with veteran Hardcore act Closeline) 7-inch The Rise And Fall Of Hope being issued through Platinum Recordings in 2000. On the same label the band brought their official “solo” debut with the EP/ mini-album Where Hate Found A Place To Grow, issued in May 2001. A 4-track demo recorded in November 2002 theen brought the band a deal with Burning Season for the 2003 release of the band’s debut full-length The Human Encounter With Death & Desire. Having learnt to play their instruments better over the years, the band wanted to deviate from their old musical direction (which they themselves dubbed “New School Hardcore” for convenience) to include the kind of Metal elements they’d always been fond of, towards the style which is currently more commenly known as “Modern Metal”. The musicians (guitarists Stephan Hilderbrand & Jürgen Kurz, bassist Michael Hafner, and drummer Stefan Dittrich) felt this could not be attained with their old vocalist Martin Frey, and therefore enlisted Heiko Blocher in his stead. The first results of the new cooperation could be heard on the Crisis Never Ends/ Final Prayer split album issued in 2005 on Punchline Productions. The inclusion of Melodic Death Metal into their Hardcore could be heard even better in the 2006 Beniihana Records released A Heartbeat Away, which sold out so quickly the album had to be re-released (through the Let It Burn imprint). A vinyl version of the album was subsequently issued through Supreme Chaos Records, who signed the band to their subsidiary Prevision Music imprint. So, this is the Germans’ third full-length, recorded after a change of drummer took place (whom since went onwards and was already replaced by newest member Heiko Stumpf). And if you’re into the modern type of “MetalCore”, you just might like this album! Might? Well, you can expect a firm and steady drummer and truly good bassist to provide for a pounding foundation upon which the guitarists can display their (sometimes double) rather technical (a plus for those among us who are into a slight complexity)…but always melodic…play. You might initially pull up your eyebrows when hearing the singer for the first time though! His deceivingly limited vocal range rather belongs to the world of Black Metal styled screams, to say the truth…which is quite all right when the band around you is playing a speedy kind of music, but takes some getting used to when their play is somewhat more interestingly varied! Personally, I was initially somewhat taken aback by the vocal stylings to the point of even listening to the singing first, in stead of to the really good music, but even before I’d gotten halfway through the first listening session I had given the two a reverse importance, and then started finding out that the lead singer doés get some occasional backings (which dó sound amazingly like his own). After the multiple sessions I gave the album, I’ve now come to consider the vocals less important than the music overall (which is something the band won’t like to hear, as they put a lot of their Hardcore values in the lyrics), and can enjoy the music on its own! Still, when it comes to rating the album, the fact that part of what is offered is not quite to my personal liking doés cost the band a couple of points, of course! Check it all out for yourself by surfing to myspace.com/crisisneverends, where you’ll regrettably only find the one song off the new album…but as they’re put alongside a couple of other Blocher sang songs, you’ll get the idea of his vocal signature. You’ll also find a couple of videos (one a teaser promo clip for the album with music from the same track as posted, the other for a song off the previous album). For more audio from the previous album, check out the band’s page at last.fm (I have to say though, overall the new album sounds a little heavier throughout, even if it doés have its calmer moments in intros, outros, or even within a song). 90/100 Tony. |