| CD REVIEW Blind Town |
 |
|
Band: Blind Town Italian act Blind Town was formed as a trio comprising lead singer/ guitarist Max “Nis”, bassist Manolo “Manu”, and drummer Andrea “Pero” Perotti with the firm intent to break the stiffling musical barriers that were reigning the airwaves at that time! The (Torino based?) band released a self-produced album titled For You…Not For Me in 2001, and the album was given positive reviews in local fanzines and on specialized websites, which also gave way to some interviews on a couple of local radio stations. The guys then decide to introduce an extra and fundamental element in their line-up with the addition of backing singer/ guitarist Matteo “Teo” Birsa, at the same time evolving their sound in the Nu-Metal direction. Follow plenty of performances in the “Do It Yourself” circuit with gigs, among others, on the Around The Rock Music Festival (presented by Paula Maugeri from MTV), tattoo conventions, and several local venues. In 2003 the quartet records and releases their sophomore outlet, mini-album Flip Out, this time recorded with the aid of one Stefano Amerio (sorry, I failed to look up his “importance” in the scene prior to starting this review). Following a year of live promotions all over Italy (including tours with the likes of Born From Pain, Tortured Squad and Oltrezona), the band then suffers some internal problems, causing them to cease activities for quite some time. When they returned from their forced hiatus (which also included a re-evalution of their sound) in 2007, it was with former One Day / No Regrets skinbasher Cima behind the drum kit. That same year they entered Fear Studios, to record 9 new songs under the supervision of Gabriele Ravaglia (of Electrocution), Simone Mularoni (Empyrios, DGM) and Maxx C. (of Idols Are Dead), and in January 2008 they signed a new management deal which had almost instant results, as songs off the band’s new promo album were played on webradio stations as far away as Minnesota, USA (Deep Six Radio) and Mexico (Radio Imagina). One songs was even contributed to the Midwest Nailgun, Vol.3 compilation on American label Midwest Nailgun Records). After that short outburst of news on the band however, everything falls silent again…until early this year, when the band announces the upcoming official release through UK’s Casket Music! The album now…opens weirdly enough with a dark spoken word bit entitled “Interlude”. Now ain’t that normally something to bring in between songs? Well, stranger things have happened…I even remember a Monty Python’s Flying Circus episode strung together with nothing else bút interludes. But comedy hour set apart, actual album opener “Deep And Silent” (which is certainly deep in lyrical content, but everything but silent) immediately shows that Blind Town have not completely set aside their Nu-Metal past! As the album progresses, you’ll find that BT’s music nevertheless prooves to be somewhat more diverse than the simple confines ususally attributed to that genre. Obviously, there’s some Hardcore sensibilities in the drumming…which ain’t that surprising with the Cima’s past in mind, but also there’s a great underlaying feeling for underlaying catchieness in the guitar work, without getting off into complicated ego-tripping solo and lead guitar play! Although you’ll get an occasional growl, the dual vocals are sufficiently clear (and devoid of the usual modern aggression) enough for anyone to comprehend, with nice harmonic passages to boot. Certainly, there’s a degree of Emo in sóme of the songs, but never in an exagerated way! To add to the new diversity of their sound, the band closes their album with “Following Nothing”, which even has some Pop Punk inspired passages. By now you may have made a general though of what these guys may sound like, now go and compare that idea with the two songs posted at myspace.com/blindtown. It won’t give you a complete picture (in fact, the frequently calmer “Smoke Spirals” ain’t exactly representative for the rest of the album), but at least you’ll have something to feed your imagination on until you can find the album at your local record store to give it a listening session from start to finish! Although only containing 9 tracks (the opener of which only 34 seconds long) you’ll nevertheless need almost 40 minutes to get through the album…you have been served advance warnings! 87/100 Tony. |