Questions "Strength!" CD
[self-released]
Here's some vicious new school hardcore from São Paulo, Brazil that has a heavy NYHC type of influence. To me they sound a lot like Madball across the board, even down to the vocals (which are in English, and the Portuguese accent isn't that noticeable), but there is a slightly heavier dose of metal here to some of the breakdowns. The title track opens up and is a little bit groovier and heavier than everything else. "Union/Respect" has more of an old school hardcore influence to the chord progressions, with metal styled picking patterns that beef things up (along with the recording style). The last song, "Questions", comes from the band's 2000 demo ("We Shall Overcome") and is along the same lines, but the vocals are a bit more gruffly textured and there's a slight dose of melody. The production is pretty good. It's a little bit muddy and there's something lacking, but I can't put my finger on it. The drums sound fine, I just think that maybe the mix needs to be evened out a tad, and perhaps the bass should fill in the low-end and let the guitars hone more clarity. The demo track almost sounds a little bit better because it's cleaner to some degree, but it's still missing something... There's also a CD-Rom video that starts out with some brief interview footage (in Portuguese) before the music video kicks in. The video actually contains very high quality footage for the most part. It looks like it was shot in the band's practice space or something, with some tasteful effects that sort of make the film look dirty/decayed. Sure, it's not the most interesting thing in the world, but I've seen worse, and the song is solid, so... I really like the layout. The CD comes in a slim jewel case (it's a CD single, basically), with a full color insert that has a strong cover, lots of tiny band photos, etc. The lyrics are only included for the title track, which sort of has an old school hardcore type of persistence vibe to it: "I will fight for my beliefs, I don't care if they're not part of the majority, Bow down to no one, Can't let it go down, I'm the one that will always question your so called truth, Bow down to no one..." I like this. Sure, it's not the most original thing in the world, but I like this style of classic metalcore that hasn't lost its roots, and I'd be into hearing more from these guys in the future. Definitely. (6/10)
Running time - 6:51, Tracks: 3
[Notable tracks: Strength, Union/Respect]
Questions - http://www.datoro.com/questions/

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