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The Gauntlet: Various Artists |
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Various Artists Album Review
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Tracklist
The third release from Double Blind Music, {un}known Vol. II, offers up music from burgeoning stars such as Open Hand, Anberlin, Terminal, Further Seems Forever, Codeseven, Scatter the Ashes and The Juliana Theory alongside up-and-coming bands like 32 Leaves, Opus Däi, Fair To Midland and Opiate For The Masses. The known and the unknown are brought together once again in a sound clash of emo, progressive, post hardcore, metal and punk. Complete with rare and previously unreleased tracks, {un}known Vol. II is an essential compilation for the cutting-edge listener. The 14 tracks and bonus video on the album are sonically diverse, while collectively reflecting the embodiment of current modern rock.
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In similar fashion to the first compilation in this quickly proliferating series, 'Unknown Volume II' gives listeners a suitable array of talent, but this time around, Double Blind Music has included a bit more diversity in terms of both the song and artist selection.
The jewel on this record is surprisingly not an audio track, but a performance clip for the latest single from grungy rockers Seemless, 'Lay My Burden Down.'
Already building a strong buzz with their self-titled Equal Vision debut, this video gives further momentum to a very compelling album that should well be considered as essential listening for those who revel in the 'Louder Than Love/Ultramega OK' era of Soundgarden.
In terms of enhanced content, the addition of weblinks to the various artists' respective sites is also a welcome addition, allowing fans the opportunity to find out more about their favorite bands on the compilation and accomplishing a little bit of sensible marketing practice at once. You could ask for something a bit fancier in terms of a multi-media presentation, but consider this move points scored for doing something more than most labels care to attempt in the way of interactivity.
One of the major downfalls to assemblages of artists such as this is the fact that it takes a great deal more effort and creativity for a band to turn out an album of great tracks as opposed to single cuts. On this release, however, there's a better perception of value than on the first offering. In an age when fans can download single tracks from the Internet at a low cost, it's more likely that fans would prefer to choose their mix CDs as opposed to record labels.
Fortunately, this album is not without highlights, most notably 'Nightingale' from Opus Dai, which finds the band taking a less schizophrenic approach than on the first compilation's 'Rain.' Also of interest is the initially mechanized, then smooth and soaring 'Crooked Crown' by Open Hand and a highly competent, unreleased performance from Opiate For The Masses in 'Running From Yourself.'
There's definitely a more prominent metal edge in the music of Coretez than what we've heard from Double Blind to date, so maybe there's a bit of hope that the company can produce albums in the future with the weight and bite most appropriate for this resource. If you enjoyed the first installment in this series, it's quite likely that you'll be drawn to this one as well,with this offering sporting a superior cast of artists than the first. Not to say the first edition won't be of certain value as well. Anybody have a copy of Metal Massacre I? This music isn't as heavy, but its just as good of an idea.
We're expecting some great things to come from Double Blind Music.
Review by: Erin Fox
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Comments
admin - 2005-09-17 14:58:11
Opus Dai kicks ass |
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