Band: The Setup
Album title: Crawl & Reign
Label: GSR
Distributor: Cargo
Release date: 13/02/2009
Release: CD

Although I was never allowed to review any of this Antwerp based Belgian Metalcore’s releases (that was always a task laid away for collegue Trik), I can proudly say that I own (almost) each and every one of ‘em, being the band’s 2004 debut 7-inch EP Nine Kinds Of Pain (issued through Anger Management, there’s also an MCD version on Eye Spy records with a bonus track) a vinyl version of their 2005 debut album The Pretence Of Normality (on Reality Records, the CD came out on GSR Music), and a CD of 2007’s Minister Of Death (review by Trik posted 10/02/2007). What I’m missing is the 2007 Soul Of Death 7-inch split EP with Zero Mentality (or at least, I think so…can’t check at this very moment) that followed that full-length (issued on DRA).

Since the release of their previous album, a lot has happened with the band. First there was the big European tour in support of Born In Pain during Spring, and lots of festivals during the Summer, also allover Europe. But the end of 2007 brought the first bad news when singer Dries Olemans decided to leave the band, due to the fact that he simply could no longer put in the effort and sacrifices needed. His replacement Kris Deweerdt, formerly of Officer Jones AHPCP and a longtime friend of the band, made his live debut with The Setup on March 15, 2008…on a British stage! Around the same time the announcement was made that Michiel Van Steen from Fallen (who’d been filling in on the bass for a while already) was now enlisted into the band on a permanent basis, and that the band would be entering a studio during April to record an upcoming EP for GSR Music, slated for release in late May (obviously, the mini-album took a bit longer to surface). Meanwhile, guitarist Andries Beckers took on the additional job as bassist with Born From Pain, with whom he would shred the stages all over Europe. Occasionally TSU had to use Jef to fill in on guitar duties for gigs, as Andries wasn’t anywhere around…and realizing that Andries couldn’t possibly combine the two bands, eventually the decision was taken to promote Jef as a permanent member. Then, in the later part of the year, the band also cancelled all their shows to allow their singer to spend as much time as possible with his teminally ill mother.

So, here’s the 5-tracker in a nutshell: 5 relatively short songs (max 3:27) with a total length of only 13 minutes and 20 seconds! In essence, the release is mainly a means for the fans to get acqainted with the new singer, and in truth his participation didn’t change much to the whole! The band still plays a mostly mid-tempo (with the occasional pace increase), Death Metal influenced Hardcore…say old school Metalcore, with fat Mosh parts and beat-down parts, heavy riffs and forced screaming…which is only slightly higher than before! The band still won’t win prizes for originality, but they bring their music & lyrics with an honesty that’s become rather a curiosity within the Hardcore world. To compare the old TSU with the new one, surf to myspace.com/thesetup, where the band posted the title track of this EP alongside material off other releases!

What with the time that elapsed between the recordings of the mini-album and everything that’s been goin’ on in the personal lives of the band members, they’ve gathered enough material to make a new album, and the band travelled to Denmark in January to record for an upcoming full-length, with Jacob Olsen behind the knobs, known from his work with the likes of Gorefest, Born  From Pain, Hateshere, and Moonspell (to namedrop but the most resounding bands). The full-length album (for which the band already had 13 tracks prepared…but which won’t possibly all get onto the album, as only the heaviest of the heavy will be picked) is slated for release later this year!

90/100

Tony.