Band : Razorwire

Album title : Wrapped In Lies

Label : Psychophonic

Distributor : Psychophonic

Release date : April 2008

Release : CD

Oh my, I can't say I'm as exhilerated about this British band's newest outing as I was about their past material (this is their third, following 2003's League Of The Godless and 2005's A Bullet Called Pride – the latter's review was posted on 12/08/2005, and is still available for your scrutiny).

Why might that be, you may well wonder? Well, to begin with...this ain't quite the same band anymore, is it? Changes already occured before the recordings of the second album, as former lead guitarist Danny Carden was forced to leave due to both personal and health problems. The split was amical enough though, and he even cut some solo guitar bits on several of the album's songs (other solos being done by the band's frontman Chris Minney , and drummer Charlie Cooper ). It was Razorwire 's first ever line-up change since forming in the '90s, and in August 2005 he was replaced by one Kieron Berry , so the band could continue their relentless touring schedule. The biggest change however, was still to come...as in Spring 2006 both lead singer Chris Minney and bassist Andy Pancheri decided to leave the band.

First to join the remaining three was bassist/ backing singer Rich Kelham , also active with Punk Rock act Hudson . Next, Razorwire would welcome former Kismet HC and Fuck Hate Propaganda frontman Dave Scragg into their fold. Somewhere along the line however (I was unable to assertain the exact moment) they lost their lead guitarist. The new material is therefore somewhat more rhythmic in its guitar play than the older material. But that ain't the only change which occured, as there's also somewhat of a change in the vocal department. While Scragg is certainly a worthy replacement for Minney when it comes to the Rapped moments, I have to say I now find the backing vocals department somewhat "calmer"...meaning there's less screams, less aggression, and a certainly occasionally much busier vocal landscape overall. Which ain't always that well-becoming to the overall somewhat simpler music (you know, the lack of interesting lead/ rhythm stuff and all, like in the old days), which luckily lost non of its former...but some of its sophisticate structures in stead. Don't get me wrong, there's still some very tense moments in a couple of the songs (I'm particularly fond of "Legacy" and album closer "Clawing Fingers" ) and in a couple of cases the new style even works out perfectly (like in "Drempels" ). You might say they tunrned in a portion of their Metal-ic side in favour of a more Hardcore geared direction and, you know, I suppose I'll just have to give the album a couple more spins before I will actually be liking it for what it is: the next evolutionary state of an otherwize great band. I just hope they dó find a new lead guitarist to invent more interesting lead and solo guitar parts (again, don't get me wrong, there àre some of those about, but simply not as plentiful as before, eh? And by the way, these are simply the rantings of one individual holding onto and being apprehensive about letting go of something he liked in the past). Check out the new Razorwire by surfing to myspace.com/razorwire, where the band posted no less than 4 songs off the new album and two videos. Oh right: videos!

A very nice thing about Razorwire 's newest, is the fact that the first 1,000 copies that'll leave the door at Psychophonic (still run by rhythm guitarist Dan Peach ) will contain a bonus DVD including all videos the band had already done! 4 of those are for tracks on the new album, by the way, including the mysteriously titled "Dremples" , and the catchy "False Pride" (where we can still see a second guitarist at work...or is that actually already? Anyways, this video has already caused some controversy due to the footage where the band burns a flag featuring the colours of several nations in an effort to display their feelings about the uselessness and stupidity of national pride). Then, there's the videos the band did for the title track of their previous album, and the clips for "Dipole" and "Lock Down" off same album. "Dipole" returns in a live version, as recorded at the Godless Festival 2004 (another means for Dan Peach to promote up and coming bands, besides the label), and the DVD is closed by the very first video the band ever did, for the track "Close My Head" . Additionally, the DVD opens with some 11 minutes on-the-road footage shot during the band's extensive Dutch tour last year.

End conclusion time, and nah...I cannot for the life of me put thís album in my year-lists like I did with their previous ones! That Metallic spark which was Danny Carden 's was simply said thé thing which pulled this band's material thàt way, I suppose! Still, not a bad album at all.

85/100

Tony.