A Thought Crushed My Mind is a very strange entry in Blindside's discography. The sound they employed on this album had not been heard from them before, and it has certainly never been heard since. Their 1997 self-titled debut was a loud and noisy experience that was heavily influenced by nu metal bands such as Korn. Christian's vocal delivery on that album was strange and often completely unintelligible and the performances from his fellow band mates were equally abrasive. All of the albums after
A Thought Crushed My Mind have seen Blindside adopt a more streamlined alternative metal sound, a sound which the band has honed to effective results. On this sophomore album, however, Blindside took it upon themselves to unleash over 50 minutes of engaging hardcore punk on unsuspecting listeners.
This new sound is made apparent right off the bat with the opening track "Vow of Silence". The guitar is loud and upbeat, and the nu metal influences heard on the debut are nowhere to be found. The drums are produced is such a way that they have a raw sound that fits the punk vibe of the album perfectly. If you are someone who likes bass, oh boy is this the album for you. The bass on this album is so audible and distorted, just thinking about it makes my brain turn into jell-o. There is even some upright bass thrown in for good measure on the song "As You Walk". The vocals on this album are even more awesome than the instrumental onslaught. Christian really elevated his game this time around, both as a vocalist and lyricist. His screams on this album are completely devastating and they add a lot of weight to his personal and emotionally charged lyrics. The screams on "My Mother's Only Son" combined with the violins and sad lyrics nearly bring a tear to my eye. His clean vocals on this album are great as well, but he spends most of the time focusing on those blood curdling screams.
While the songwriting formula the band uses throughout
A Thought Crushed My Mind is engaging and effective, the album probably could have used a little bit of trimming. The album is nearly an hour in length and tends to get slightly tiring in the second half. "In the Air of Truth" is one song that doesn't particularly stand out from the rest. This is also true of "Nara" which isn't very interesting compared to many of the other songs on the album, despite being the only song sung in the band's native Swedish. This isn't a very big issue overall though, as the other nine songs on the album more than make up for it.
A Thought Crushed My Mind is a hard rocking and emotionally draining experience that is quite unlike anything else Blindside have ever released. Despite the fact that this album is perhaps slightly overlong, Blindside managed to show that they are more than capable of creating awesome hardcore punk. It is interesting to wonder what could have been if they had continued further in this musical direction.
