Everyone knows that the best hard music comes from Scandinavia. From black metal to hardcore, almost all of the most creative artists are from Norway and Sweden. The latter's Blindside is no exception. Their first album scored major critical and commercial points here in America, and it seems that the entire world was waiting on the edge of their seat for the follow-up, A Thought Crushed My Mind.
It was worth the wait.
A Thought Crushed My Mind avoids the monotony typical of hardcore/new metal bands, sidestepping it with the use of a string section, as well as a large amount of variation in the vocals. Lead singer Christian Lindskog goes from screaming to singing to whispering, often in seconds. The result is staggering. This is one of the few hardcore albums I can listen to all the way through without getting bored.
The lyrics are almost better than the music--they manage to be artistic yet real, openly Christian while cliche-less, and self-examining without being awkward to the listener:
Just one last cigarette and fly
Coincidences made sorrow rule over your soul
I'm standing with my wings around you
I cry
So try to show you're a man
You're nobody's boy
There is nothing that separates a man from a boy
(From "As You Walk")
The standout track is the closer, "Nothing But Skin," which goes rapidly from soft acoustic guitars and strings to full-throttle hardcore, with Lindskog screeching out lines like "all of this was just a death kiss" and "My arms...can't be mine; they look more dead than alive."
Blindside is carving out a reputation as one of the best new metal bands in Christendom, and it's well-deserved. A Thought Crushed My Mind is a must-buy for fans of the genre, and if you're new to the scene, it's a good place to start.
4.5 tocks
Other coverage for this album
HM Magazine #81Reviewed by David M. PoggeAfter nearly two years since their stunning debut album, the Swedish heroes of emotional hardcore have finally unleashed their sophomore album upon an increasingly impatient public. With this release, a new musical direction is pursued. Gone are those grooves that you can't help but move to, and the majority of the mellow singing parts that make you want to cry. Instead of creating melody in the…Art for the Ears 2000Reviewed by Marco PovervestFrom the first seconds on it's clear that Blindside didn't copy their first album. The opening-track Vow Of Silence isn't about silence at all! You hear screaming hardcore with some uptempo parts and singing part in the choruses. This album is definitely harder than their debut. Surprising is the mellow end of As You Walk (with cellos!). So, it's not only heaviness here. My Mother's Only Son has…The Phantom Tollbooth 2000Reviewed by Josh MarihughAn old music comparison chart once compared Blindside to the flood of rapcore bands dropping like bombs onto the market. This album bears little or no resemblance to rapcore; the boys from Sweden have created a monster entirely their own. Over the course of 11 tracks, the vocals rarely descend from the level of impassioned, throat-ripping yelling. Occasionally, however, a melodic vocal interlude…
