The back story that accompanies this debut album from Guilford quintet Without Thought is quite the head-turner. Two years ago, as the album was readied for release, band member John fell 30ft from a tree (stop sniggering at the back, this is serious business) and suffered a nasty head injury. Ever since he’s been recovering and rehabbing to get to a fit state in which to perform again. Rather than baulk in the face of adversity (not to mention dissipating label interest), the band put its existence on the shelf and waited the whole thing out. A risky but commendable move. Now the band is back on track and ready for you to hear ‘Drop Down and Give Me Infinity’.
If you’re looking for the proverbial silver cloud then it’s this; ‘Get Down and Give Me Infinity’ probably sounds a lot fresher today than it would have a couple of years back. Essentially, the 12 tracks on offer here fall into that post-hardcore/melodic hardcore bracket that was fit to burst not all that long ago before pop-rock made the ascendancy. Now, at least in these parts, it seems there’s not quite the overspill of such bands, so it’s easier to prick the ears and listen to Without Thought. It’s even easier because this also happens to be a decent record.
On opener “Standing on the Edge” a gentle intro is shattered by a fierce guttural fury. This is the blueprint. Spread across the release are moments of melody juxtaposed with brutally heaviness. Big guitars are compounded with thudding drums, whilst the vocals flitter between almost pop sounding calm moments and violent screams. It’s a little heavier than Story of the Year, not quite as polished as Atreyu. Basically, it’s the type of sound that Funeral for a Friend has been rocking for the better part of a decade.
There’s a brief two song interlude midway through the album that comes across as straying towards the pop-rock sounds of, say, Attack! Attack! “The Krunch” and “Regretamine” just shy away from the screaming aspect, which does affect momentum a little, but also makes for a welcomed respite. Closing track “There’s Knowing It…and Then There’s Feeling” really is the album’s magnus-opus. It’s a hefty seven minute mix of intensity and mellowness, banged together in peak and trough format. The additional female vocals add a further dynamic, a facet that makes it all too easy to head back to track one and start all over again.
Without Thought deserve to start chipping away at that ladder of success, not on the grounds of sympathy but because of the fact that this album is a quality offering that manages to mix up the harmonious and the vicious but retain an air of accessibility. It may not have the innovative nature of some of the bands that tackle this type of duality but it certainly manages to succeed in terms of sounding damn good.
Alex