Bomberos "Hate" CD
[Duplicate]
Seven quick ass tracks of hardcore/punk from this Norwegian act that I believe features Maniac from Mayhem on vocals. I'm torn on this. I like the music, which is basic three-chord punk rock sort of in the vein of The Exploited meets Poison Idea or something, with fast and straightforward chord progressions in arrangements that stick right around a minute or so each. But the vocals aren't doing it for me at all. They're basically shouted and have an air of sarcasm that reminds me of a gruffer and deeper Jello Biafra, and I'm not finding that to be a good match for the punch of the music at all. I don't know, something about the vocals just falls flat for me, so they're sort of the weak link. The songwriting is nothing amazing or out of the ordinary, but the no frills approach would be cool were the vocals a bit more pissed off and forceful. "Hellhound" and "Give You Hell" are musically a little more energetic, but the vocals always come off as too laidback by comparison, where "laidback" simply means not in your face enough, they're not literally laidback per se. In addition the recording is a little lacking, too. It's okay, but the vocals lack clarity and sort of feel less defined than some of the musical elements, though honestly everything is a little muddy and the guitar tone is overbearing in comparison to the bass (which is quite hard to hear). Were the mix clearer and more balanced they'd be basically fine, though the guitar tone could use a little tweaking to give it a more natural sense of depth. The layout's quite minimal with one live band photo, some handwritten text, and lots of textures of crumpled paper - all in black and white. And that's about it. No lyrics, etc. I wouldn't say it looks bad, but it definitely leaves a little something to be desire. All in all I find that this is a pretty boring EP, if I must be so truthful. The music is okay, but there are too many little bits and pieces stacking up against the mere nine minutes of material to really save it. A stronger vocal performance would absolutely make a difference, though. (5/10)
Running time - 9:10, Tracks: 7
[Notable tracks: Hellhound, Give You Hell]
Duplicate Records - http://www.duplicate-records.com

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