Remember when hardcore used to be hardcore? I mean before it became the persistence tour – when Sick of it All were selling CDs by the truck load and didn’t, sadly, need an undercard of other big name bands to sell out big London venues. I’m not one of those ‘that is punk/hardcore/ska’ police types – each to their own and anyone is punk if they want to be, but I’m just so tired of this metalcore/emocore/screamo stuff. Fucking sick of it. The bands I get for review are becoming more and more watered down parodies of bands I got a year ago, or 2 years ago, for review. They listened to hardcore, it’s clear, but seem somehow afraid to play anything other than the current style.
Without Thought are not a bad band, by any stretch of the imagination. At times they pull off Dillinger Escape Plan riffs, Maiden riffs, Comeback Kid riffs. But they mix it with a lot of dross. They do the hardcore well, but it’s glimpses of it and nothing more…The rest of the time they fill this CD up with slow moving emocore. High, soaring vocals. The odd bit of slushy pop-punk sensibility. It just doesn’t wash. At times it’s like soft rock with screamo backing vocals.
This music has runs its course as it is, and someone needs to inject it with something new. Without Thought are easily a good enough band to have given themselves a kick up the arse and come up with something new, but this album has ended up just being another bland half an hour or so.
Mike