I’m gonna keep this review short because, to be honest, I can’t remember anything about this album. All that’s left in my mind is the constant drone of a repeatedly strummed, perfectly distorted guitar. The only thing going for this album is that it’s quite consistent, the entire album marked by a loud and barging guitar sound. The two acoustic tracks are a necessary break from the nonstop assault of songs that sound like they would have been hits ten years ago when grunge was popular.
For an album whose songs sound strikingly similar, a few stick out. “Cosmopolitan” starts off with an overplayed, sharp post-punk riff, which is then engulfed by a wave of crushing power chords. A bland chorus is marked by cliche lyrics that are supposed to be powerful because of their reference to death. “Well you spend the night/ I'll take my life/ We'll close our eyes/ We'll be dead by sunrise”, is grunted in a husky accented voice. The hardest part of making this record was probably deciding which track to use as a single.
Despite the pristine production that is no doubt a perk of their major label backing, the mix on this album is horrible. The guitar drone is always too big and overpowers the vocals, which are just as monotonous as the guitars. The resulting sound is one streaming blend of mediocre modern-rock production. A few lazily sung hooks penetrate the songs, which feel as if they were written with the help of a “How to Score a Radio-Rock Hit” hand book. To top off this mound of disappointment, Nine Black Alps is a British band, which is sad considering the numerous other British bands which are creating superb music.
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