Rockfreaks.net

Nightshade

The Beginning Of Eradication

Written by: PP on 18/12/2008 14:53:48

You know the feeling of hearing a band that's so close to being fucking awesome, but isn't there just yet because they need more experience? The feeling killing you because you just can't stand having to wait for their sophomore or their third album before they become bloody brilliant? Anyone listening to French hybrid metallers Nightshade with knowledge to Darkest Hour's career span will probably feel that way, because "The Beginning Of Eradication" sees the band sound almost exactly how Darkest Hour did on "So Sedated, So Secure"; undeveloped, but so full of potential that once you leave them alone to refine their sound for a couple of albums, you'll have a seriously awesome release in your hands - a rough diamond if you will.

"The Beginning Of Eradication" namely drowns in awesome melodic hooks in the vein of Darkest Hour from start to finish. There's some traditional death metal groove in many of the riffs, and Bring Me The Horizon-styled breakdowns scattered around which break the flow of each song. But more about that later, because the breakdowns aren't as much of a problem as their vocalist is though, because his undeveloped scream/growl combination sounds, honestly, god damn awful on this record. If you're reading this guys, don't take it wrong, because we all know how John Henry sounded exactly like this on "So Sedated, So Secure", he merely needed some time to develop his approach into something more recognizable and decipherable. Listen to him on the aforementioned and then go onto exhibit B, "Undoing Ruin", which is easily my favorite album this decade.

Back to the breakdowns, then. All too often the band has impressive high-speed twin-guitar melodies and hooks making my lips drool as a reviewer, only to have a faux pas breakdown force me to bang my head against the wall and say "no no no no no no no!!!!". A good example is "Just For A Bitch", which carries one of the coolest lead melodies I've heard all year, but for some reason the band decided to destroy it with a karate-mosher friendly passage stuck right in the middle of the song. And another thing, the early Job For A Cowboy-esque pig squeals at the end of "Crowning Of An Ugly Princess" are so unnecessary.

But in all seriousness, give Nightshade two more albums and they'll produce a masterpiece, that I'm sure of. The vocalist will surely develop over time, and the rest of the band needs to drop out the metalcore/deathcore breakdowns in order to have more flow in the songs. Once both are achieved, anything is possible for these guys.

Download: Good Night Darling, Just For A Bitch, The Last Day
For the fans of: Darkest Hour, As I Lay Dying, Job For A Cowboy
Listen: Myspace

Release date 07.11.2008
Rising Records