Artist: Backjumper
Title: Across the Deadline
Type: Album
Label: Killerpool Records
Bands generally don’t like to be categorised as categorisation is seen to undermine their originality. To convey the atmosphere of a band’s sound for a reader, it is necessary to come up with at least some description of the style. Backjumper may be pleased to learn that while listening to their album “Across the Deadline”, I noted many things about their style but none of them properly pinned it down. The fusion suggests Metalcore, and this view is supported by the fact that “Across the Deadline” is in a modern metal style, but that word covers a multitude of sins. Fortunately there is a long list of bands, among them Khaoswave and Natron, to whom Backjumper give credit in their sleeve notes, which helped the picture to become a bit clearer.
Listening to the lively groove of the first track “Deadline” gave the first clue. It reeks of Angela Gossow singing In Flames. The melodic thrashiness told me that Backjumper, who I’d never heard of before, must be Swedish. Wrong. They’re Italian. Then the growls turn into clean vocal Hardcore. Meanwhile the riff lines are really hooky. It’s fast and there’s a strong hint of punkiness about it. It’s fresh and lively. “Holy Havoc” develops the thrashy Hardcore experience. The riffs have a twisty feel, reminiscent of The Haunted. Then in the middle of the screams there’s a funky section. By the fourth track “The Separated You Fear” I’d come to the conclusion that all this chopping and changing was deliberate. It’s not full blown thrash, it’s too technical for that, besides which it starts with a bit of cyber metal. It’s all kept going with a good groove and nice, bouncy riffs. All this is on the back of “Life Sponsored By”, where a chunky riff precedes more Hardcore. Meanwhile on the same track there’s another section which I can only describe as Thrash-Rap-Hip Hop, with intense growls of course. It’s actually not as chaotic as this may sound. One thing which is a constant on this album is the inherent anger, paranoia and frustration in the lyrics. This is the anger of youth and the frustrated energy is expressed not just in the words, but in the pace of these tracks. There’s definitely a punkiness about “Across the Deadline”, especially on tracks like “Sadist-Factions”, an American sounding track with an element of jazziness, and “A Strife of Blood” which fuses the punk style with those twisting riffs and angry Hardcore screams. Occasionally it slows down, but not too often. I particularly appreciated the technical guitar work. It takes the album beyond a simple angry hardcore-punk-thrash rant which it might otherwise be. At times it’s introduced in a jazzy way, while mostly it’s built in to the faster sections which dominate the album. One such track is “Turn to Sand”, which also features an ascending layered riff recognisably akin to Opeth. Yes, this is an album of surprises and styles.
“Across the Deadline” is altogether an interesting album. At various times and to various degrees it’s thrashy, technical, melodic, jazzy, progressive and experimental. The two things that keep it together are the Punk-Hardcore energy and the anger that goes with that, and the excellent technical guitar work which runs through each track. I appreciated the album without totally getting into it, but I am sure there are some people out there who are angrier than me and want to embrace the energy and vision that Backjumper present.
http://www.backjumper.com
http://www.myspace.com/backjumper1
http://www.killerpoolrecords.com
Andrew Doherty
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