Reviewed by Andy Binks

I first heard Blindside when I randomly purchased their second album 'A Thought Crushed My Mind' while in America. I did enjoy much of the album but never really followed Swden's popular hard music team after that. From what I gather they have taken a more melodic approach with their new material. The same can't be said for this re-released debut, originally put out by Solid State in 1997, however. It may not have been quite as aggressive as the aforementioned follow up but it certainly has its moments with plenty of riff-heavy tracks. There are melodic moments of course but the nature of the album means that these can give way to another furious wall of sound at any moment. The main problem though is the band, as recorded here at least, don't exactly play technical or exciting music. It seems a little too formulaic for my liking with a few metalcore and nu-metal influences present but very little in the way of imagination. The cleaner vocals also aren't that great and for the best part the album feels a little incoherent. For some reason though I can't bring myself to dislike it. Several of the tracks are fairly catchy and clearly the band are good at what they do. So, for newer fans of Blindside this is a collector's item to fill out the gap in their collection.

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.

Interested in reviewing music? Find out more here.