Many Metalcore bands nowadays sound very similar when compared. There are not really huge differences, which is one of the reasons I stopped checking out Metalcore bands on a large scale. I have my favorites:
Heaven Shall Burn for the hard stuff with nothing but screamed vocals, and
Killswitch Engage for the hard stuff with melodic vocals.
Some general impressions:
Well, nevertheless, sometimes something slightly different comes along. 'Fear my Thoughts' is such a thing. I heard a song by these guys which made me curious. Though they play Metalcore much in the likings of Heaven Shall Burn or Unearth, their stuff still is different to an extend. The setup is the same: two guitars, drums, bass, vocals. As it's Metalcore, we do not really have to talk about the bass (you know, it drowns in the production, barely heard, only root notes etc), so let's move on to the drumming. I like it quite a lot, you have the genre specific double-bass action, but also some nice changes in speed. From high speed drum runs to slower passages in a matter of a second. Great. The vocal range is from deep grunting to high pitched screams. Means, a similar vocal range as early KsE stuff has. I must confess though I'm not 100% sure if the vocals are done by one singer. Listed is only one vocalist. If he does it all: Nice. The guitars do a good job, nice lead/rythm guitar work.
So, where's the difference to other acts then? Well, first there's the song length. Most other Metalcore bands have around four minutes as longest play time for songs. Here, this is the minimum play length for the songs. Most songs go up to around six and a half minutes. The band manages this by inserting instrumental passages in their songs, sometimes spanning over around 30 seconds and more. Interesting. There's a clearer metal-touch present there, as the guitar lines are very dominant there. But there are no real solos. Also, on some spots a keyboard sets little accents (for example on the title track) that let's one name pop into my head: Children of Bodom. Though the keyboard is not as present as there. It's really only used for setting accents and to underline certain passages
Good and Bad:
What is good here, is at the same time in a way bad as well. That the songs feature long instrumental passages is nice, and adds something. On the other hand, on some spots it would have been better to cut it short. It's hard to remember an individual song after you listened to the album (or at least it is for me) as the songs stretch a bit. More melodic passages would have been nice as well. On 'Mission Immortality' for example you get a great melodic guitar line served, and more of that would have been nice. But overall, this is an enjoyable listen and a nice alternative to the 'standard' out there.
Summary:
It's nice to hear something that somewhat differs from the standard Metalcore that has become the status quo. It's a bit sad though that the songs stretch a bit to much sometimes and therefor not really get stuck. Still, it's a welcome alternative.
Check out their webite to hear some of their songs as samples. [Url=http://www.fearmythoughts.com/]Fear my Thoughts Web-Page[/url]
Final rating: 3.5/5
