Sometimes I cruise the net to try to find something new and different to listen to. One of my main sources to find a “breath of fresh air” is mp3.com. You know the place, thousands of independent artists upload their music for people to listen to and hopefully purchase. I was looking in the Industrial Metal category and saw a band called Drop Shadow that was on the first page, meaning that a crapload of people have downloaded a particular song from the bands collection. So I thought that I’d download the track and give it a listen.
Holy shit. I found what I was looking for. I found something new (to me anyway) and different and as an added bonus, they kicked major ass. So I downloaded all of the rest of the tracks from the page. At that time, just about the whole CD was available for download plus almost every track recorded live as well. I was jumping for joy when I gave the band a listen. After listening to the MP3’s for a few days, I emailed the band asking if I could get a full CD for review. After a few weeks, my wish was granted.
The CD, “Blue“, blessed my CD player, speakers, and my ear drums for a few hours and now I sit here writing this review. The Cincinnati, Ohio band, consisting of Ben Petry (bass and vocals), Tim Kindberg (guitar and backing vocals), Mike Gruber (keyboards and samples), Nick Wientge (drums and electronic percussion) at the time of recording, “recorded, engineered, mixed and produced by the band in their private studio.” In other words, they did EVERYTHING for the CD. The quality of this CD matches what big label’s do for their artists. Fucking amazing.
Track Listing: Needles 4:47 Rating: 5/5 |
On to the sound of the CD, since that’s what this review is for. Heavy, Technology, Emotional and Brutal, that’s what makes Drop Shadow’s Blue and their sound awesome. The use of samples and keyboard on the CD are simply tremendous. The guitar and bass work blow me away and the drummer beats the living shit out of his kit. The vocals on the CD are beat you to a bloody pulp at times and then gently and tenderly tear at your soul demanding compassion the next.
The CD also has two interlude songs, appropriately titled, “Blue Track 1” and “Blue Track 2” which the bands classifies as “Experimental”, which add an awesome effect to the overall tune of the CD.
My favorite track by far is “Fade Away” as it’s the type of track that really pulls and tweaks your insides. A very mellow song compared to the rest of the CD, but it just proves my point that the harder bands, when they create a mellow song that they put out, are genuine. At times better then what the softer/poppier groups create (or have created for them). It’s kind of funny to me that this hard rock band, with a lot of awesome songs, and I pick the mellow track as my favorite tune. Other tracks that are high on my list are “Needles” and “Scattered“.
Drop Shadow also has a newer release called “Chemical Underground EP” available at mp3.com, as well as “Blue“. Drop Shadow are currently in the studio recording a new demo, which I can’t wait to get my hands on.
Brian
brian@unearthed.com
