Review Summary: Although the album would be 5 out of 5 if it was more polished, it is still an awesome work. Agressive, fast, catchy and better sounding than the EP. 4.5 out 5. Deserved and recommended.
Personnel:
Martin J. Polak - Lead vocals, guitar
Tomas Ondra - Guitar
Dominik Zavadil - Bass, backing vocals
Winc Janecek - Drums, percussion
Didn't take long since my review of "Symptoms of the Ignition EP", and here it is - The Desperate Mind's first full album, titled "Amassed Sickness". If you are a frequent Punknews.org reader, you already know it, since it got reviewed there and got 3.5 out of 5. But that's just my introduction, so let's get into reviewing, shall we?
The Desperate Mind pay alot of homage to the 90's punk, especially to the punk rock and skate punk genre. You can totally hear that combined 90's Green Day, NOFX and Rancid sound in their songs, with The Desperate Mind adding some of their own ingredients. The lyrical themes in this album touch alot of issues such as politics, anger, relationships, modern day society and views on the punk scene itself. And the vocal delivery? It just got so much better since their EP. One thing that will strike you from the beggining (or atleast from the second song, because the intro is calm and mysterious, but i will get to that later) is the lead singer's voice. Polak sounds like a younger and more angry version of Billie Joe Armstrong, and that was also noted in the Punknews review. Combine that with the loud guitars of his and Ondra's, Janecek's explosive drumming and Zavadil's basslines, and you will get an awesome album, that is a great introductory point for the ones who are getting into the punk rock and skate punk. Of course, the album would sound better if it was more sound-polished, but there is something catchy about the album's sound that will not let you skip a single song. The track listing is also done well. Tha album starts by a slow, mysterious song called "Described In The Shadows", which then slowly fades away, just to kick off into the fast and agressive "Total Sucker", a song that you should play to your worst enemy. This fast and agressive tempo lasts 'till the 10th song, which seems to be the last one. But no! There is also a hidden track, track number 11. It is a slow acoustic song, which makes me feel that the band is mocking modern day acts with this one. But again, cool surprise. This album also features 3 songs from the previous EP ("Welcome To Your Nightmare", "Searaching For The Hysteria" and "Rest"), but they are completely re-recorded, and they sound far, far better than on said EP, and there are even small improvements in each song. To me, all the songs seem awesome, but my personal favorites are "Total Sucker", "Welcome To Your Nightmare" and "Gas Mask March". And you can listen to those songs too and for free - just search for this album on Youtube, there's a free stream.
