Train of Thought “Bliss” CD

Holy shit had I been wishing this would happen for fuckin' eight or nine years now! About a month ago I started getting a handful of emails out of nowhere from people asking me about the alleged release of a posthumous Train of Thought CD, but despite being an obsessive fan of the band I had heard nothing of it whatsoever. An intensive Google search turned up shitloads of distros carrying a Train of Thought CD that did seem to fit the bill... but every single one of them was located in Japan!? Go figure. But sure enough, additional emails confirmed that this long overdue CD collects the painfully scant seven tracks that this New Jersey quintet offered up in their brief two-year run from 1995—1997. It kills me to think that these guys recorded less than a mere half-hour of material, but every song is fucking flawless, so I'll take what I can get since I've been singing their praises for years and years now.

Train of Thought formed from the ashes of Bulldoze, with 4/5 of the lineup carrying on in a much more melodic direction that yielded a four-song self-titled demo in 1995, followed by compilation appearances on "East Coast Assault II" and "The Harder They Come" in 1997. Their style tossed in loads of killer vocal harmonies and subtly technical flare within a backbone that flirted with straightforward metallic hardcore—though nothing as stripped down or in your face as Bulldoze by any means. The slick basslines were wildly prominent throughout the tracks, and the overall songwriting emphasized a melodic edge that was unparalleled at the time. It sounds like all of the songs might have been recorded during the same sessions, sans "Self Inflicted", which was their final track to see the light of day.

I have no clue what the deal is with this CD, though. It might have been pressed up for the band's one-off reunion show last year, but whatever the case, and I hate to say it, but it honestly looks like complete shit and contains no lyrics and very little information. A shame considering how truly amazing this band was, but it sounds great compared to the original demo cassette, and since these songs are all totally amazing, again—I'll take what I can get. Train of Thought was by far one of the most underrated bands of the late-90's, and easily remains my favorite band to have appeared on the massive "East Coast Assault II" collection. Here's one completely stunning track from said compilation as well as another from the demo:

Train of Thought "Bliss"
Train of Thought "Blind to the Facts"

Three of these cats (Zack Thorne—guitar, Chris Golas—drums, and Puda—vocals) are now in the almighty Agents of Man, who just happens to be one of my absolute favorite bands of the present, and they sound almost identical to Train of Thought, so if you dig this shit you should look into 'em for sure. I'd also like to jam this CD straight up the ass of every incompetent halfwit "reviewer" who has perpetuated the sorely unfounded claims that Agents of Man is an unoriginal metalcore act that supposedly sounds similar to Killswitch Engage or whatnot. All such claims are complete and absolute bullshit and even a cursory listen to this Train of Thought material solidifies what I've been saying all along: That these guys have a sound that's all their own and have been doing this shit for longer than all of those new jack bands have even existed. If you're too deaf to hear the distinctions then you're a worthless peon and deserve to get smacked the fuck up. The end.

Visual inefficiencies aside, I highly encourage you to get a hold of this disc if the above tracks suit your tastes. It's $10ppd in the US, and I assume a few bucks more elsewhere. Shoot an email to [email protected] for ordering information. I fuckin' love this shit. This thing should've hit the streets so damn long ago... I seriously think there's something wrong with people who don't dig this band. I just can't handle it!