My
grandfather was a well-known man in our little town. He had hundreds of
birds, chickens, turkeys and pheasants in his garden and like a poultry
version of Dr. Mengele he enjoyed himself in crossbreeding these
different species. One of his more successful experiments was a mixture
between a chicken and a pheasant. The result of this crossbreed was a
fierce feathered creature that made Alien look like a harmless pet.
When my grandfather decided to kill this aggressive animal it succeeded
in not only wounding my grandfather but also my grandmother and two
uncles. To make a long story short: crossbreeding can have unexpected
results.
The Belgian band Krossbreed does exactly what
we can expect from a band with this name: mixing different styles to an
aggressive whole. It would be a bit cheap to label their cocktail as
‘metalcore’. I never liked that term and most bands that call
themselves metalcore play metal nor hardcore but a sorry excuse for
would-be-heavy music. So what does this quartet sound like then? Bands
that pop up in my brain when listening to ‘Enjoy The Rage’ are
Sepultura (especially the vocals of lead singer Michel) Metallica
(guitarsolo in ‘Come Closer’), Pro-Pain (‘Bloodline’) and Machine Head
but without turning into a clone of these bands.
The
band has surely matured compared to their debut demo ‘Down To The
Core’. The vocals are more adapted to the capacities and borders of
Michel’s voice, the songs are more compact and a tad faster and
especially when it comes to the production Krossbreed made a giant leap
forward. Their biggest challenge will lie in finding their own sound
within the genre because now they are not really popping out in the
avalanche of releases.
‘Enjoy The Rage’ is certainly not
the most earthshaking Belgian release this year but the overall song
structures and musicianship are solid enough to function as a healthy
foundation for later work. As a bonus you can find on the demoCD a very
professional looking video for ‘Come Closer’.
73/100
Reviewed by Avon M.
