You wait months for a Swedish take on American crossover and then two ….yadda yadda.
It seems only moments since I was getting all excited about Dr. Living Dead’s “Crush The Sublime Gods” album and now here is Negative Self featuring alumni Andreas Sandberg.
Sandberg left the Dr’s evil cronies to concentrate on his studies. However the lure of the bandanna is strong and he is back fronting Negative Self. The cover- a brain bared skull sporting a Mike Muir style bandanna tells you all you need to know. If you don’t like the boys from Venice Beach then pass Negative Self by.
Opener “Back on Track” sounds uncannily like an outtake from “How Will I laugh Tomorrow”. Sandbergs Muir impression is pretty spot on. Scarily so. If there is ever a metal/hardcore “Stars in their Eyes” this guy will blow that twat with the big collars away.
What the vocal lacks here is power. Sandberg’s voice is really low in the mix and lacks the punch of S.T. It feels to me that so much effort is going into getting the homage to MM right that the passion is lost. Tor Nyman offers some great soaring Rocky George style guitar leads and Frank Guldstrand offers chunky bass-lines to hang the ST altar mat from. There is no credit for the drums, I can find no mention of the tub thumper.
Something that appealed to me with Dr Living Dead is the combination of influences in evidence on “Crush the Sublime Gods”, which mixed thrash and Death metal in with the Suicidal vibe. (OK hardly a huge variation I know) This kept it fresh and interesting for me.
If Negative Self were playing in my car friends of a certain age would be convinced I was playing a lesser known Suicidal Tendencies album that had passed them by.
“My Own Company” Dancing With the Dead” both great tracks. Superb musicianship, great riffs, nice thick chug. Just a shame that they have been recorded in a slightly different order before.
“Tied Down” is a ballad of sorts and a messy one. Like a drunken 2am phone call to an ex. Go to sleep NS. It’ll seem better in the morning. Plenty more riffs in the sea.
“No Tomorrow” starts sounding a little like mid era Iron Maiden before “Lights Camera Action………. “ it’s back to the wife-beaters and hankies on heads.
I have high hopes for the final track. “Negative Self”. I am hoping for an anthem. Something to blow my socks off. Well my socks are still in place but I do like this track. It has a nasty dark feel to it and the mosh part makes me wanna throw my sweaty self at other large men in a confined space (there are dark corners of the internet for this kind of theatre I am sure). However, when Suicidal Tendencies are still touring and still releasing albums as good as 13, I gotta ask why???
(4/10 Matt Mason) Why join this gang? JOIN THE ARMY!
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