After trying to do some research on this band I became alerted to the fact that their website ceases to exist at present, so all I can say is that they are a self described ‘emo/hardcore’ band and this is an admittedly rough self produced demo.
I was hoping that their music wouldn’t be as nastily clichéd as their name, as harsh as it may seem there are no surprises as to what ilk TBB belong to. In a flooded genre it really takes something special to make a band stay afloat as opposed to sinking into the depths of boring mediocrity. An injection of something new is needed to make a band stand out from the crowd as opposed to a desperate attempt to cling onto the success of the rest of the pack. A catalyst is required to ignite a spark of excitement. Resuscitation is needed to breathe life into a tired old creature. THIS BLOOD BURNS, judging from this three track demo, have none, or at best, very little of the above requirements. Even so, a competant run-of-the-mill ‘emo/hardcore’ band would be tolerable and indeed have merits of their own, even if all the riffs and ideas are borrowed.
However, the thing that instantly strikes me on this demo is the poor production quality. It really doesn’t do the band any favours at all; in fact, it probably makes them sound worse than they really are. The next thing I noticed was the vocals which are almost painfully out of tune. Sorry but if there’s one thing that really bugs me, it’s out of tune and just generally awful vocals. If you can’t play the guitar it will sound shite when you try and record it, the same applies for singing, take heed.
All in all, this effort leaves a bad taste in my mouth, like when someone puts salt on your cereal instead of sugar. It’s not nice and it’s almost enough to put you off breakfast for the next few days. Sorry guys, but this demo just isn’t up to scratch. My advice, if you choose to accept it, is to go to a proper studio with pro-tools and auto-tune facilities and try again. The songs could show promise once a few creases are ironed out.
Mike