Released by : SELF RELEASED OUT NOW!!
Style: Stoner/Doom Metal
Links: http://www.myspace.com/speedblow
Tracklist:
1. Visions Of Demise
2. Silence Is Breaking
3. Black Sky
4. Last Of The Fools
5. Lower Ahead
6. As Night Becomes Day
7. Evil Sprits ( Of The Mind)
8. Blood Of The Innocent
9. (Food) For The Wolves
10. Along The Minefields
11. Doors Of Redemption
Since their initial formation in March of 2009, SPEEDBLOW have very quickly become somewhat of an underground sensation and their self-titled E.P has been heralded as a revelation in the stoner/doom genre. Until I received their new album FIELDS OF DOOM to review I was yet to hear them and only had the hype to go on, which did give me high expectations before I even put the disc in the tray. Part of my excitement was due to the fact that I do have a bit more than a passing interest in the genre and count bands like KYUSS, DOWN and MONSTER MAGNET among my favorites.
Now I’m not sure wether or not it was just the hype machine running in overdrive or wether these guys are a genuine underground powerhouse, but truthfully FIELDS OF DOOM isn’t real good. I did feel that some of the songs as compositions in themselves were pretty well written, but the execution really leaves much to be desired. For one I think that vocalist Nick K is really out of his league here and constantly struggles to keep in key. You can hear his potential underneath dying to come out and he has the feel of a doom singer certainly, but there is a large difference between potential and actual ability when you’re talking about being the front man of a band.
There were a couple of tracks like VISIONS OF DEMISE, LAST OF THE FOOLS and BLOOD OF THE INNOCENT that show the band has some chops, but the under-developed vocals really spoiled them.
Unfortunately my gripes don’t end there. The other thing that I just couldn’t get past was the terrible production throughout the whole album, the demos sounded fine when I checked out their myspace page, but when I got the proper album the final production still sounded like myspace demos.
It truly does pain me to be so negative, but I owe it to our readers to be as honest as possible. If SPEEDBLOW are content with their position as underground favorites FIELDS OF DOOM is a satisfactory release, but if the band realistically would like to grow and gain some more recognition they have to do much better than this. I know it can be a dirty word in the rock & metal genre, but can I suggest that the vocalist seek some professional lessons just to work on his pitch control mainly, and also in this day and age it’s really not expensive to get a semi-decent production. Recommended to true underground supporters only
Written by Zeezee
Ratings Zeezee 5.5/10
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