Artist: 12 Gauge Alliance
Title: Self titled
Type: Album
Label: 12GA
The Welsh seem to have their own secret success formula when it comes to creating metalcore. I don’t know, maybe it’s something in the water over there, but whatever it is, 12 Gauge Alliance must have been doused in the stuff as they tried to follow the trail of footprints that Bullet For My Valentine left behind. The question is, does the world really need another metalcore band? I mean, Trivium and Bullet For My Valentine are shunning their own roots and trying to pretend that those scream/whine/scream/whine vocals never existed in their sound, so I was really starting to hope the trend was dying out.
This album demonstrates that 12 Gauge Alliance are a tight band and they have a good solid sound, but they aren’t really doing anything that hasn’t been done before. The album begins with a drum and bass intro that initially throws me, before they get down to business with some concrete drumming, chunky guitars and vocals that sound like Jacoby Shaddix (Papa Roach) taking vocal tips from Phil Anselmo. This is a lively affair with a crunchy sound that, without thinking too much about it, I can happily nod my head to. It doesn’t offend me, but it doesn’t inspire me either.
There is no shortage of aggression here and this is one to get the bodies slamming and probably one or two fights breaking out in the moshpit, but for those old enough to realise that side partings and t-shirts tight enough to belong to your kid sister don’t actually look very metal, and for those who demand a bit more from their music than dull, derivative riffs and mind numbing repetition should steer clear. This is far from the worst album I’ve ever heard, and I’m sure those who are really into the genre will get a kick out of this, but for as for the rest of us…Does the world really need another mediocre metalcore band? I don’t think so.
http://www.myspace.com/12gaugeallianceuk
Luci Herbert
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