Blindside - With Shivering Hearts We Wait

Blindside - With Shivering Hearts We Wait
Genre: Post-Hardcore/Emo
Rating: 7/10

Following a six year gap that looked like the end Blindside finally release their 6th LP With Shivering Hearts We Wait. Blindside first hit the international stage during the Nu Metal explosion of the late nineties and early noughties when lead singer Christian Lindskog collaborated with P.O.D on their biggest album Satelite. This gave the band the exposure they needed to break into the mainstream Nu Metal scene which saw them achieve some success in the states. Unfortunately by as early as 2003 the trend of Nu Metal had started a steep decline into redundancy with the new brand of Emo becomming the hip new scene. Whilst many of Blindsides peers had to adapt or die the band themselves didn't need to change much at all being that they never really fitted in directly with that particular fad. 2005 saw the release of Blindsides last album "The Great Depression" a wonderfully constructed mixed bag which saw the band experiment with a number of different styles from piano lead ballads to ferocious hardcore and screamo.

6 years on with very little in the way of news or releases (bar one download only EP in 2008) it looked as though we had seen the last of this swedish quartet. With Shivering Hearts We Wait crushes these fears and worries as the band triumphantly return to form. The album follows on in the spirit of "The Great Depression" by mixing a huge variety of different styles to varrying degrees of success. The bands trademark sound is a nice mix of grungey metal guitar work and Christian's soft melodic vocals that often turns into roaring fits of rage. This album also sees the band incorporate a precociously epic string section, keyboards, some indie inspired group vocals and woops and even some synthetic dance beats. All of which give the album enough suprises to keep the listener hooked start to finish. Highlights include the brilliantly epic opener "There Must Be Something In The Water" which ends in an apocalyptic string section that surpasses anything they have previously recorded and the interesting and catchy "Monster In The Radio" which mixes little samples of dance beats with some sleazy guitar work and a watertight chorus.  Other tracks like "Bring Out Your Dead" and "My Heart Escapes" see's the band stick to more familiar territory but this is not really a criticism as the bands 17 years practice makes them masters of their art. The only downside to this album is the length. After six years waiting 10 tracks doesn't feel like much. On top of this the experimental nature of the record does lead to some duff tracks like "Our Love Saves Us" which proves too poppy to flow with the rest of the album.

Overall this a good comeback from Blindside following a six year gap. Whilst it isn't their best work to date it does more than enough to prove the band have still got life in them yet. Hopefully they won't keep us waiting six years before the next record.

Download: "There Must Be Something In The Water" "Bring Out Your Dead"