Reviewed by Alex Figgis

Having already received much attention due to their critically acclaimed debut release in '98, Sweden's Blindside return with an equally stunning follow up. 'A Thought...' is not only a progression in both sound and vision, but also a mile stone within the hard music genre. Revealing a distinctively progressive edge to their music, Blindside think nothing of experimenting with new compositional ideas, as in the neo classical "Nothing But Skin", complete with passages of folk-tinged string arrangements. Funky album closer "Phatbat 1303" even goes so far as to incorporate dance rhythms into the mix, resulting in a bizarre hard core hybrid that is bound to turn a few heads. In fact, what awaits the listener is a sonic rollercoaster ride, which meanders at speed between accessible, identifiable signatures and chaotic rhythms of varying intensity, often times within the same song. Throughout 'A Thought...', producer Andre Jacobsson encourages and maintains a high level of musicianship, maximising the impact of each song, all of which have been intelligently written, in such a way as to precisely convey the mood and tone of each piece. A groundbreaking release from one of Sweden's finest exports.

The opinions expressed in this article are not necessarily those held by Cross Rhythms. Any expressed views were accurate at the time of publishing but may or may not reflect the views of the individuals concerned at a later date.

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