A year ago In At The Deep End was a label that when they put out a new record, you just knew it would be excellent. They went on a highly consistent run of excellent releases, putting out Hitechjet, The Wireless Stores, The Killerest Expression, Buzzkill and Steel Rules Die records in a short space of time. They were varied records, but the one thing they all had in common was that they were excellent. In the last 12 months the label has taken a shift in its sound, mainly releasing harder-edged records from the likes of November Coming Fire and Bait. Personally the shift in sound has not been to my taste, although the label is arguably bigger than ever.
The newest release is from the UK’s own Everything For Some, a band who claim to be influenced by Will Haven and Helmet but, due to the vocalists style, will no doubt forever have Rage Against The Machine comparisons thrown at them. I’m sorry to (probably) continue the trend, but ‘A Thought Refused‘ is so influenced by Rage that you could, if you held your hands to your ears to muffle the sound, actually think this was a new Rage record. For about three seconds.
If you detach the band from Rage comparisons you’re left with a record that makes little impression on me at all. There are driving riffs and pounding drums, but the vocals are far too low in the mix for me to make any kind of impact. Yes, the riffs are heavy and hard, notably so on ‘Stand Alone’ and ‘Just Like Them’, but if I want to listen to heavy riffs I’ll go listen to Ra…
I’m sure I will be a lone voice in the crowd by berating this record for its lack of originiality, but it’s simply not to my tastes. If you’re a fan of hardcore, or simply want to hear another Rage-soundalike band, then be my guest and spend £7 on this 10-track album. You’ll probably like it a lot more than I did.
www.everythingforsome.com
IATDE
Paul