Average Rating: 4.04 Rating Variance: 0.52 Objectivity Score: 56% (Somewhat Balanced)
Sort by: Rating | Release Date | Rating Date | Name5.0 classicEconoline Crush AfflictionBy far the best and most underrated album of this band which takes the best qualities of 90s industrial rock spices it with imagination and inguenity and vocal "soul saving"(Listen to Blood on the River to get that reference.Don't let the singer's poppy delivery fool you he delivers a lean and mean vocal attack that sucks you right in there's no filler to be found each track has it's own allure to it.Their darkest most unconvential full length with some quasi-misanthropic underones to boot,and which is unusual for catchier songs of this ilk.They made the most of the technology at the time and imbue clever sampling and bizarre electronics in a way this was ahead of it's time by a few years.Overall a charismatic crooner of a singer added with the horror movie vibes of the later half of the album makes for an inspiring album.at the top of their heap back in the 90s still holds u p astoundingly well.Their later albums were still solid but less dark and moved further each passing album towards the mainstream.Favorite track:Close(makes me feel like i'm falling in a bottomless pit!)Finger Eleven The Greyest of Blue SkiesAn absolute masterpiece of post grunge and one of the most important albums along with their groundbreaking debut that helped established the next wave of grunge after it originally died out(Seether,Breaking Benjamin,etc).I have listened to this album in multiples of many the last 5 years I just can't get this one out of my head it's a hard thing to do when you have music that's this catchy yet deeply introspective and complex in the lyrics department that make this stand out from the many post grunge bands that followed in F11'S wake.I love their poetic style during this era but they weren't afraid to get down n dirty with some of the nastiest sounding riffage and time signature changes in the hard rock that would make even metalheads crack a smile.Definitely the bands darkest release to date this has aged like a fine wine and doesn't feel cheesy or gimmicky nearly 2 decades after it's release which is a hard feat for many bands in the hard rock realm to achieve.They became more accessible and lost their unique vibe when further albums were released but they were still fine for me to listen to.I didn't give up on them even when they "sold out" I still enjoyed their later songs as party anthems though they have yet to regain their creative peak they achieved on their first 2 albums this is absolutely timeless and essential if you're into post grunge,hard rock,metal(mostly this album)or just deep,dark,intense sing along anthems that will never leave your head this album is the permanent fix.Also check out Tip for a similar sound from them they haven't sounded like this since.Skrape New Killer AmericaNow here's a mindblowing CRIMINALLY under rated minimally discussed album if there ever was one.It UNFAIRLY gets labeled Nu Metal cause of the time it came out but aside from one song Billy slightly raps on and the downtuned guitars it's aesthetic proves anything but substandard nu metal.I feel Deftones and Econoline Crush,another underrated 90s outfit owe the most to what the band creates here.You got subtle atmospheric electronica merged with SKULL CRUSHING surgically precise downtuned mayhem(these guys have chops,i'm telling ya) to offer a one in a million experience I've yet seen to be duplicated in it's musical landscape since it came out.There are good bands that come out currently(Cane Hill's one that springs to mind) that are attempting to revive the previously dead and buried nu metal format but I sorely miss mystical bands like Skrape.4.5 superbIn Flames Soundtrack to Your EscapeI'VE COME TO GIVE THIS POSITIVE FEEDBACK WATCH OUT OLD SCHOOL IN FLAME DIEHARDS!!So many old school in flames fans jumped to conclusions once IF started their now "infamous" more mainstream direction.If you ask me this Come Clarity and Reroute To Remain are how you do it RIGHT.After CC though I can agree they have nothing to offer as nothing grabs me AT ALL the past decade plus.Love the way they swirl the Gothenburg elements with modern keyboards of the more electronic variety versus the old style Gothenburg method.Anders is in top form yet a bit bizarre with that warbly effect he utilizes which at least makes it entertaining and unpredictable more I can say regarding now he's going power metal that style doesn't fit him one bit.I am in contrast to others who say they died after Colony/Clayman.They went in a different direction but made it organic which I dig when a band of this variety decides to go mainstream.Still each to their own.4.0 excellentBreaking Benjamin EmberTheir best release since We Are Not Alone for this fan.I see the fans disappointed in it complaint's seem to be most directed to being too formulaic this late in their career.At least they still have playing chops that don't turn to shit like other bands in the modern hard rock metallish sweepstakes wind up doing.I feel this takes the strengths of their discography and molds them into something leaner and meaner a bit more lively this time around.You'll find some of their heaviest material on this release done in familiar yet well executed manner.Ben's harmonies are killer some of the best I've heard in 2018 hard rock music.Also digging the few ambient bits that enhance certain tracks a nice little bonus from the guys this time around.Hope they continue making bolder music maybe something even unique for their style in their future release.The Great Deceiver A Venom Well DesignedThis side project of At the Gates vocal mastermind Thomas Lindberg is unjustly ignored in the metal community.Out of all the side projects the front man has taken on this has to be the most unique and compelling of them all.Basically what I equate this to sonically is At the Gates slowed down to a crawl(not sludgy more midtempo and groovier with thrashy blasts here and there).he still utilizes his unearthly shrieking madman voice but filtered through a more dark alt metal lens less gothenburg .So basically you get a little bit of At the Gates,a shot of alternative metal and a blast of The Cure's demented atmosphere.If there's any cons songs blur one into another with similar structure,not much variance in mood, the tremelo effect on the guitar pedal is an interesting choice but is overused to the point where it starts to lose it's unique vibe and can be grating to listeners.Still this project of Thomas is so underrated and needs to be mentioned more in the community instead of just heir At The Gates worship.Today Is the Day Sadness Will PrevailHoly shit is this one EXHAUSTING experience,misanthropic,disturbing,sleazeball,weird,distorted,haunting,every oppressive word you throw at it still wouldn't fully describe how numbing this album is especially on headphones.A few years back I was playing The Suffering a quite messed up as well first person shooter while listening with headphones and even the intensity I was feeling progressing through the game i was equally as focused on just the sheer volume of lunacy this music delivers on.Not even 3 tracks in an instant rush of cold air went through my face and belly.This stuff is somehow more twisted evil cacophonous and claustrophic than the most extreme genres of music could ever achieve.When i heard the ringing noise after the first line Steve Austin shrieks ABRASIVELY during the opus "The Descent" I pictured an asylum from hell with malevolent cowbells attached to the padded cells to let the lunatic know someone wants in .The audio equivalent of a snuff film.I usually skip the 2nd disc as the brunt of the songs are on the 1st disc it's just too long and depressing to listen through the whole thing in one sitting.Enter at your own risk you have been warned3.5 greatFinger Eleven Five Crooked LinesI consider this album a throwback to f11's early stuff but it's not the throwback more hardcore fans of their first 2 albums were hoping for as I've heard from the fans disappointed in this considers it more a continuation of their last 2 releases.To me it encapsulates elements of their whole discography even incorporating a bit of 70s psychedelia.Come On Oblivion's a major standout,the most enormous in their career it would fit perfectly on Tip and GOBS.I'm hoping they go a more experimental harder route their next album that would be awesomeSouls at Zero A Taste for the PerverseSuper obscure album that's a hidden gem of all things metal in the 90s.Another reviewer of this album on another site penned it best " a thinking man's hardcore/thrash band.Catchy in the abstract sense yet poetic enough to make a difference in listener's heads.I own their previous album to but not their LP when they were Wrathchild America.I'll have to check those albums out to see if they live up the inteliigent brawn of this album.3.0 goodCold Psi-Ops: The Mindgate ConspiracyAfter finding the video for "With My Mind" on youtube aeons back this track alone surpasses pretty much the entirety of A Different Kind Of Pain for me.This is the Cold I wanted from that album.Full of intrigue and mystery the way i like it.I haven't heard all the tracks though judging by this track i'll love it regardless.It's what i based my rating on it's an incomplete listen.Skrape Up the DoseIt's definitely a solid album but it seems more hollow compared to NKA.I feel this should of been their debut because their actual debut was leaps and bounds ahead of this.They're a bit too radio friendly at times while at the same time there are shining moments on this lp that match NKA for inspiration,the boldness of the title track,the sinewy leads of Habit,the manic No Respect,the centerpiece of musicianship being the slow burn dirginess of Syrup they are firing on all cylinders these tracks.The rest of the album doesn't stack up to these although the softest tracks ''Summer Song","I Can't Breathe" and "Home" are sung with conviction melodically pleasing on the ears, they kept me coming back but there's nothing daring going on and none of the bite of the aftermentioned tasty morsels and the entirety of NKA.If it would of stuck to one side instead of going back and forth between quality and filler it would of been another home run.On a side note it sucks that the band weren't given another lp to hopefully hone their talents further if it wouldn't of been for their management and promotion frustrating them enough to call it quits.At least we got to hear more of Billy Keeton when he collaborated in the supergroup Audiotopsy a decade plus after,which they aren't half bad I can even hear Skrape's aesthetic showing up in that project which is a nice little surprise for Skrape fans, casual or die hard.
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