Once Nothing - First Came The Law

HinweiseGenre : Metalcore
Country : USA
Year : 2008

I spilled my head a couple of reviews ago. Now it's time for.... fun with structure in writing. Let's see how this goes.

First up, production. Proper. Typical, but I don't mean that in a negative way. The sound overall on First Came The Law is very standard issue new-metalcore. Layered guitars, rightfully so, to get into the thick of the crunch. Your stock moshy breakdown passage is typically made up of all staccato palm-muting, to at least fifty percent of the time, and when you're trying to get the kids in trouble, recording guitars on top of guitars on top of more guitars will summon up a devil's advocate. You'll find that Once Nothing take cues from that playbook here. The drums have that bass drum click, tom-tom bite, and crispy snare that you've heard time and time again, but can still get the job done if said crew has the chops to take it, and then pummel and bludgeon with it. The vocals are, well, there. They're present. They showed up to the recording session, and spewed forth guttural sewage, toneless screaming, and the occasional clean, all very dry in the mix. There are no effects. All in all, the recording is a tightly wrapped package waiting to be re-gifted.

Second up, is songwriting. This is where I've got some explaining to do. Personal historical facts are in order to shield me from the fans on the front lines that are sure to come out blazing when I tear into this. To sum it up, I spent 1986 through 1989 skateboarding and spray-painting trains to Cryptic Slaughter's Convicted and Run DMC's Raising Hell, not necessarily respectively, and raising eyebrows at how furious, and yet how biblical, bands like Believer, Vengeance Rising, and Deliverance could be. So I come from a blender on high of genre cross-pollination, and keep a blind eye to the fine lines that separate religious beliefs in music. And seeing as how ON are signed to a record label with religious overtones (in that I'm assuming there was some prerequisite necessary for them to call Solid State "home"), and that their music attempts crossover appeal, I think that the "closed-minded" and "god" cards are better left unplayed when i say that ON have got a mess on their hands. It seems that they've gone and Blue Oyster Culted all over their Bury Your Dead albums and didn't clean it up. It's a simple case of new-metal trying its damnedest to find a gimmick and then forcing it until it sounds forced. They've tagged this mutt "blue collar metal". It costs only a dime for a dozen, and comes with a complimentary trial size container of stale southern air, that ends up sounding more like a turn for the worst toward Six Feet Under territory, with a fever, who's only prescription is "more cowbell" (check "Avoid Me Like The Plague"), rather than the more deeply rooted yee-ha swing affairs of traditional rock'n'roll Americana, whose bastardized versions turn up in the songwriting of bands like He Is Legend and Maylene & the Sons of Disaster. Granted, this here is a more scathing attempt at this mash-up, but leaves me feeling that if they only held their ground on the 70% mosh-pit kung foolery of this album, instead of turning on a dime into territory that feels unconvincing, they would have on their hands a solid beatdown of a record. I found the proof of that theory alive and well in the song "Juliet Or What's Left of Her", where the Thin Lizzy-isms are vanquished, and they let their fury flag fly for four minutes and twenty five seconds while they stretch out their melodic, Gothenburg worshipping, picking hands and just do what they do best with no awkward and uncomfortable left turns. It's really good. It's a standout track. The closer, "And Then Came Grace", also shows a truly unexpected strong point when a fragile and somber piano riff loops and builds itself up into a sonic blanket that sets a slower pace and exudes a rarely seen affection for an Isis train of thought. It's brilliant, sends shivers.

Third comes the musicianship. Skill level at its best and shining when, surprise,!2008-03-31 10:37:49.000!0͸ÛÍ!2008-11-28 10:15:42.987!0ÍèÛÍ!2008-03-31 00:00:00.000‘!Link gefixt*gefügt**efügt*Download*Trackz*se)*)icht)r*komplett*ugefügt - Info lesen! - Staffel komplett*‘0ͨÜÍ쥎ˆ¨Í
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Rel. date : 2008
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LABEL........: Vertigo Be QUALiTY..: lame3.97 V2
PLAYTIME.....: 48:41 min: 
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