Sworn Amongst

And So It Begins

Written by: TL on 24/08/2008 00:32:45

With an average age of 17, Sworn Amongst recently managed to upset the Kerrang/Snickers Unsigned competition, winning themselves a spot on the Download festival, a fact that naturally has heightened expectations for the bands 2nd full album "And So It Begins". However, chances are that people outside the British underground won't have heard about these guys, so what do they sound like? I sat down to find out.

The opening title track starts out very very well. Quiet guitars instantly form a melody that demands your full attention and you can't but feel your senses sharpen as you listen closer. Then the distortion comes on and it sounds bloody awesome. At 1:34, the instrumental intro has drawn long enough to assure me that we're dealing with metal that's at least slightly pretentious, however, so far, I'm ready to forgive them anything.. Almost.. Because after 1:34, the vocals kick in and to be frank, the album is ruined.

I don't know what these guys were thinking when they chose their singer, but God must they be beaten with the stupid-stick for doing it. For all ten tracks, the guy "sings" in a style halfway between growling and sneering, the sort that can ONLY be taken seriously if you're still sporting a denim vest and metal locks that haven't seen shampoo since the early 80's. The only interruption comes once in a while in the form of gang-choirs, the only positive property of which is that they signify the front man shutting up. It may sound harsh, but honestly I'm thinking of death penalties for bands that insult such ripping guitar work with such retarded vocals.

Now, if you can somehow make friends with the vocals, or maybe successfully ignore them and enjoy the axe-work, then you should be all set to enjoy "And So It Begins" very, very much. I'd also recommend this for the thrash maniacs, except the pace is painstakingly slow compared to the (admittedly little) thrash I've heard, the only point of comparison being the tendency for idiotic vocal work. I'm giving this 9 for the guitars and subtracting 5 for the 'singing'. Now please get another singer.

4

Download: And So It Begins
For The Fans Of: 'slow' thrash metal with awesome melody
Listen: myspace.com/swornamongst

Release date 14.07.2008
Rising Records

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