Endo is a band that came to the nu-metal scene in 1998, however, they didn’t release their first album,
Evolve, until 2001. Not much is known about this band, since their personal lives and recording time are kept at a hush, so it’s hard to go into great detail. With the release of their sophomore album in 2003,
Songs For The Restless, Endo continues to follow in the steps of their nu-metal forefathers Korn, Deftones, and Glassjaw. The band also takes on a lot of industrial and hardcore influences (I not being knowledgeable as too the specific band influences), which are noticeable on this album.
Songs For The Restless has a lot of music that lives up to the nu-metal name, including funk influenced riffs, rap-like vocals, less then complex music, and catchy choruses. As a whole, the album is rather weak, but has some major standouts, such as the second track,
Simple Lies, which was featured on the
Daredevil soundtrack, and the industrial track
I Won’t Die.
The vocalist, Gil Bitton, combines both the nu-metalish rap rock style vocals with his chanting ‘old man’ voice and even has a brilliant clean voice when he actually sings. Even though he isn’t the most profound vocalist, Gil Bitton’s voice fits he mood of Endo’s songs and the overall atmosphere of the album. Eli Parker, the guitarist, like most nu-metal guitarist, is not of exceptional talent. Although the riffs on the acoustic guitar in the opening track are pretty well done, the electric guitar work on this album is extremely simple. The bassist, who goes by the name Zelick The Clown, is musically the most talent in the band, in which he ends up dominating the guitars in almost every track. The drummer, Joe Eshkenazi, is an above average drummer. Although you won’t hear any blast beats or intense speed drumming, he manages to keep the flow of the songs in tact. Overall, Endo is a rather simple band, but they do have their moments in which they show undiscovered talent.
The album kicks off with
Clean Sheets (And A Dirty Mind), which begins with a very mellow acoustic guitar riff followed by Gil Bitton with his chant-like vocals. The song then picks up in the chorus with electric guitar riffs before calming down for a moment, and then picking up at it’s chorus riffs. The song feels as if it was rather rushed, but is very catchy and has a pretty good flow, and also makes a good opening track for the album. Next is the best song on the album, and probably the song that got me into hard rock,
Simple Lies. The song begins with very dark picks at the guitar, followed by a simple drum beat, and finally Gil Bitton coming in with his ‘old man’ vocals. When the song kicks into the chorus, it has a very strong presence, and Gil Bitton proves to be an amazing singer (when he wants to be). The song’s dark mood and good lyrics show that Endo does have some promise of being a great band.
For You is next, with chugging riffs and a steady drum beat, the song is probably the most hard rock out of all the songs on the album. Although it’s chorus is not as good as that of the
Simple Lies, it is very catchy, which overall is the most capturing part of the song.
Remember Us marks the steady downfall of the album. The song has some good nu-metal riffs and a pretty good chorus, but is lacking compared to the last three tracks. Next is another track similar to
Remember Us,
In Time We’ll Fall, but the song has a much more hard rock sound, at least until Gil Bitton starts screaming a very screechy metalcore like scream. The song as a whole is pretty weak, but does have some moments in the bridges of the song.
Circles is another more melodic track like
Simple Lies, but no where near as good, but better then the last two tracks. The track also brings in the first hint of industrial sound into the band’s music. The music to the song is a lot better then almost all the previous tracks, but Gil Bitton has done a better job with vocals then he did in this track. “Madness, madness, what if it’s genius? Genius...” starts the next song, appropriately titled
Madness. The song brings back Gil Bitton’s metalcore screaming and even shows some of his rap singing. The song is downturn from
Circles, and is similar to that of
In Time We’ll Fall. Next is
Enemy, which begins sounding like a bass lead Nickelback song, but ends up being the most nu-metal sounding song on the album. The song has a pretty good chorus, but is a very weak track as a whole.
Shame begins with some heavy riffs and Gil Bitton murmuring “Shame on you” before he screams “F*ck you!”. The song is a slight step up from the last couple of tracks, but also has that nu-metal sound that can be heard in
Enemy. It is also probably the most angriest song on the album, and Gil Bitton does more of his screaming in the chorus. Definitely the heaviest song on the album. The last track worth listening to on the album,
I Won’t Die, is also the most industrial song on the album. Gil Bitton is vocally at his heaviest on this song, and the song is very catchy, and is a pretty steardy song as a whole, even with the heavy bass and guitars in the chorus of the song.
The start of the songs that bring down the album a great deal is
Ruckus, in which after a few scrambled clicks, the band try and do what seems to be an attempt at thrash music. Although some of the moments in the song are pretty good, the song for the most part is a real disappointment, and is by far the fastest song on the album. The album finally ends with
Slowly Turning, in which has a promising start, with industrial sounding drum beats, but the song crumbles before it even hits the chorus. Although there have been worse nu-metal song closers out there, this song was a poor choice to end the album. Overall, the album is worth getting for it’s less then nu-metal hard rock tracks and for the industrial
I Won’t Die, but the album has a rather weak middle and horrible end for a promising CD and a promising band.
Pros
-- Great vocals and production
-- Some of the songs have really good atmosphere and emotion
-- Better the average lyrics
Cons
-- Endo should stick to hard rock
-- Annoying bat scream vocals
-- The music as a whole is but only average
-- Poor album flow
Track Listing
1. Clean Sheets (And A Dirty Mind) (4.5/5)
2. Simple Lies (5/5)
3. For You (4/5)
4. Remember Us (3.5/5
5. In Time We'll Fall (3/5)
6. Circles (4/5)
7. Madness (3.5/5)
8. Enemy (2/5)
9. Shame (3/5)
10. I Won't Di (4.5/5)
11. Ruckus (2/5)
12. Slowly Turning (1.5/5)
