Chemical Vocation

Write This Moment

Written by: TL on 03/05/2011 21:18:58

Some six/seven years ago, a little known Swedish band called Chemical Vocation released possibly the best Scandinavian post-hardcore record ever, which didn't come from a band called either Refused or Blindside. Then, after that absolutely awesome self-titled EP, they decided to entirely bin its sound, and instead become a teenage friendly emo/pop/rock band. After everyone who ever knew of the band had done this for a little while, most forgot about the band.

Personally I got over it and gave their debut LP "A Misfit In Progress" a chance, eventually deeming it to be fairly enjoyable for its genre, even if it wasn't a record I expected to remember much of, and indeed, I haven't. Still though, I remember the band, which is why I decided to give them another chance with this year's sophomore "Write This Moment". For everyone who's still hoping for a return to the band's roots however, I'm sorry, but that still isn't happening.

"Write This Moment" is still way closer to "A Misfit In Progress" than to anything on "Chemical Vocation", although there are indeed changes to trace. Overall, the band seems audibly more mature, serious and confident, and for the first couple of listens, that makes the record seem somewhat more potent than its predecessor. Songs like the up-beat opener "Speeding Heartbeats" and the anthemic ballad "We're Not Here To Give Up" for instance, both give swift, positive impressions via some instantly recognizable and enjoyable choruses.

Unfortunately for Chemical Vocation, they don't pull off such choruses nearly often enough, to redeem the fact that their instrumentation and composition are so run-of-the-mill it hurts. While the sharp-voiced singer - think I Am Empire's guy plus Swedish accent - does what he can to make up for it with conviction, it simply isn't enough to erase the feeling that the band is writing the safest and most straight-forward songs they can. And when that's the intention, the lack of blockbustin' choruses is certainly felt, and for that reason, it doesn't get the band very far that they've taken steps up in terms of performance and production values. Their material still come off as mostly being too middle-of-the-road to be remembered for more than a few weeks tops.

Download: Speeding Heartbeats, We're Not Here To Give Up, Like An Infection
For The Fans Of: The Red Jumpsuit Apparatus, I Am Empire, Young Guns
Listen: myspace.com/chemicalvocation

Release Date 18.04.2011
Panic & Action

Related Items | How we score?
Comments
comments powered by Disqus

Legal

© Copyright MMXXIV Rockfreaks.net.