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A venomous Punk and Hardcore anthem of rebellion.-
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| Victims: A Dissident |
Hardcore, Punk
Tankcrimes Records
April 12th, 2011
- Theft - 3:33
- Death Do Us Part - 1:59
- In Control - 3:31
- Victims in Blood Pt. 6 - 1:03
- Burning Bridges - 1:44
- Bringing Me Down - 2:38
- We Are Not the Future - 1:42
- Lifetaker - 2:23
- Broken Bones - 1:22
- Nowhere in Time - 2:48
- Ignorence is Bliss - 2:10
- The Egoist - 2:27
- Waiting for Shadows - 2:07
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| Review Information |
Release length: 29:26
Review posted on April 21st, 2011
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| | Overall Score: 9/10 |
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| Discography |
Discography covers all information available up to day of review and is updated if future albums are reviewed. |
| Full-Length(s): |
A Dissident (2011)
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| Review |
Victims is a Swedish Hardcore/Punk act that also takes a strong Crossover Thrash stance musically. The group has existed for a little while now, and the band recently signed with Tankcrimes Records to issue their latest full-length effort, A Dissident. One of the more intriguing elements of this recording for some fans of metal is that the production was aided by Nicko of Entombed, and with his help, the album comes out a brutal assault of Punk aggression with Hardcore overtones superbly mixed with Thrash for roughly thirty minutes of audio assault.
The album starts right off with music that is simply aggressive and angry, though "Theft" begins with a somewhat eery introduction of candles burning with ambience that builds up slowly to give the idea of perhaps being lost in a gothic horror film cavern before building into that pounding intensity that is the actual song. The intro to the song itself feels a little drawn out, but it's definitely well worth the wait once the heavy guitars and distinguishable bass kick in with the furious drumming and two-step making the song as infectious as it is heavy and crushing. Luckily the intensity doesn't stop here, and as you progress through A Dissident you are greeted with a number of other heavy songs that have a very commanding angry vibe to them. This doesn't mean the entire album is like this though, as there are some other tracks on the recording that shake things up a bit.
"In Control", for example, becomes the first song to change the flowo f the release up. The song still feels very heavy and often finds the bass really driving the music, but the song has a little more of an upbeat Punk Rock vibe to it coupled with some melody. Either way, the songs will have your head banging right from the start and leave you itching to dance where you stand. On top of that there's "Bringing Me Down" which feels like a typical Punk rebellion anthem with a little more edge to it. The song is fun, energetic, and the vocals feel like they are simply laced with anger as they are screamed from the top of the lungs, especially in the chorus, leaving it impossible for the listener to not feel charged in some way by such a enthusiastic performance. The overall atmosphere these two tracks give off do typically become the norm for the album, leaving less room for some of the really fast and intimidating tracks, but that's about all that seems to get lost, and honestly, it's great to hear a good amount of variety from the band musically then just an onslaught of Crossover/Punk from start to finish.
There's nothing that would turn the listener off with this release, and the only complaint for this release would be that the music isn't too original or unique, though by far some of the most solid music of it's kind available. The overall quality of the album sounds fantastic and really has the kind of quality that one might expect from a big name label. The instruments have a good amount of distortion to them to keep the edge of the music alive and just as sharp. The screaming vocals work perfectly with the music, as they sometimes feel harmonized against the music within the nice range in energy that the vocalist brings with him. Tracks like "Ignorance is Bliss" and "Bringing Me Down" greatly benefit fromt his, and some of the layered vocals that come off like gang chants through the album, such as during "The Egoist", really helps to solidy an aggressive and rebellious sound, all boiling to the furious conclusion with "Waiting for Shadows" and it's venomous vocals mixed with some haunting guitar chords layered over the heavy and powerful Hardcore riffs to make the perfect ending to the effort, and have it come off a little epic as well.
Victims is a strong album, there's no denying that, and there really isn't anything wrong with the album. Some of the songs in the middle of the album doesn't quite feel as strong as the rest, but are far from anything you could consider filler. Victims has a phenomenal energetic presence on A Dissident, and it's impossible to not listen to this release and feel that energy going through you at the same time. With a good amount of aggression and rebellion in the atmosphere of the recording, and a few hints of haunting musical finishing touches, A Dissident becomes an album that shouldn't be passed up, and makes for a prime example of what is capable in the Hardcore, Punk, even Crossover Thrash wolds.
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Digital review copy of this release provided by:
Metal Blade Records.
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