Swedish Melodic Death/Thrash Metal has been plagued with copycats and same sounding bands ever since ‘Slaughter of the Soul’ was released in 1995. Scroll forward a few years; bands like In Flames, Dark Tranquility and Omnium Gatherum have paved the way for the success of this genre on one side of the pond, whilst the recent rebirth of both Fear Factory and Machine Head kept the American side of the coin spinning after losing their nu-metal tags (if ever there were any that is!). However, this little known band (to me anyway) have quite simply blown me away when I first span this little number.
Since forming in 1999 and having already released three previous albums to ‘Endless Echo’, the band has been compared to Darkane, Callenish Circle and for me there are many Fear Factory influences. These for me generate themselves from the powerful double kick drums, staccato/syncopated guitar palm muting, subtle use of keyboards and powerful harmony driven vocals. Whilst many may say this is nothing new, granted its not, but the arrangements just work, the complete package right in your grubby paws. However, opening tune ‘Sedated Morning’ is anything but melodic until the chorus, the near blast beating and angry approach, coupled with screams and effortless groove fill the room with powerful ambience. The chorus vocals will remind people of many of Killswitch Engage/God Forbid melodies, but not to worry folks, this isn’t a metalcore album. People might take note that guitarist Rickard Dahlberg is also of Face Down fame, now this is where we see the aggression coming from? ‘Endless Echos’ has the breakneck speed of the thrashier side of Arch Enemy from the opening few seconds, there are the breakdowns present like that of Fear Factory and Machine Head etc…its fair to say that fans of these bands, especially the modern day Machine Head, will appreciate the heavier side of death/thrash coming from Contrucdead. The album is completed with more metal like that of ‘Transfixed’ that is an upbeat bruiser, and the neck workout that is ‘The One Beside Me’.
It does sound like this album could have been released at the bands formation back in 1999, at the height of this musical explosion. I think it may have helped their cataclysmic approach to groovy song writing and anger management. But not to detract from the here and now, this album kicks your arse all the way to the record shop or mouse mat to buy it! This band deserves to be thrust into the limelight and if ‘Endless Echo’ is anything to go by, good tidings may well appear for this band, hopefully some appropriate tours will follow this release. This is a surprising and welcomed release.
http://www.construcdead.com/
http://www.myspace.com/construcdead
http://www.blacklodge.se
