Search - Fear Before the March of Flames :: Art Damage

Not an easy listen but that's the point...

A. Stoltz | illlinois | 09/07/2006

(4 out of 5 stars)

"like i say in my title, this is not an easy listen and won't be for most people. i actually didn't like this band ever since "odd how people shake" was released back in 2003. then again, i didn't really listen to hardcore/metal a whole lot back then. then about a year ago i started getting into bands like every time i die, the bled, poison the well, etc and i started liking that type of heavy music. i then listened to a few songs from "odd..." and i thought hey, that's really not to bad. so i bought the cd and i was slightly impressed, but not amazingly moved by it.



then, about three months ago i found out that "art damange" was out there and i gave a few songs some listens and i thought "wow, this is insane!" although, the music was chaotic and unstructured i went ahead and bought it anyway figuring it would grow on me. and i was right, it did. that's really the main thing with Fear before's music. you can't just listen to their albums once and form an opinion. the music is so complex and crazy that it takes a mere 10+ listens to it before you realize the talent of this band out of colorado.



out of their two albums "odd how people shake" and "art damange" i would have to say art damage is the better album. it's alot more experimental with better lyrics and is more unique than their debut due to the sing/scream vocals that alot of bands were doing at the time. in turn, there are hardly any singing on this cd and most of it is fierce shrieking and deep growls. honestly, though there is hardly any singing the musicianship is what you need to focus on here. similiar to the bled's "pass the flask", the music on here is phenomenol despite the constant screaming vocals.



all in all, fear before fans who were fans of thier debut might not enjoy "art damange as much. i can tell you it's a better album musically than their first but the singing is pretty much absent here. however, unlike their first album, "art damange" is an album that fans of norma jean, every time i die, converge, blood brothers, or maybe even botch will enjoy. that's a fact. they also have an new album coming out sept. 19 on Equal vision called "the always open mouth". the album is getting a big hype and rumor has it that the band has changed their sound once again (more atmospheric with loopholes is what i heard) and is supposedly going to be an epic album. look forward to that and to all of you fans of metal/grind core music with mathy signatures should buy this album. if you're unsure, download some first. rock on!"

Fantastic

Calvin Cushman | portland or | 10/26/2005

(5 out of 5 stars)

"This disc blew my goddamn doors off. I saw the video for "should have stayed in the shallows" and i was hooked. The style is a flawless mix of Refused's art-rock/screamo/punk, Zao and Converge style hardcore, and even Dillinger style jazz/grind/punk. The lyrics are another thing, such biting bitter, sarcastic, obscure, poetic lyrics, pure genius. If you like bitter social commentary with a sense of humor and a sound like being covered in thousands of paper cuts and being rolled in rock salt, check this out."