Knife Of Liberty

Knife Of Liberty

Written by: PP on 26/12/2007 04:39:16

The people of Denmark are responding to the call of the international emo/screamo scene rather late; where the trend is about to fade out in the US, it's just getting kick started here in Denmark. More people are going to the shows than ever before, bands fitting the genre description are starting to form (see Trusted Few and In All Her Ruin), and the 'scene' dressing style has been the flavor of the week at the shows I've been to lately. Knife Of Liberty is one of those new bands in the Danish scene that fits under the emo/screamo umbrella, and after releasing a very promising debut EP, the band is now ready with their self-titled debut album, which improves on the EP in almost every aspect.

I'm always thinking ways to make my reviews more interesting in genres that tend to be in the spotlight, because else I'd end up writing the exact same line over again: "they have the screamo/clean vocal dynamic, complex guitar licks contrasted by heavy breakdowns, and emotionally charged lyrics". Even though that's exactly what Knife Of Liberty sounds like in a nutshell, there's more to the band than to a band like Hawthorne Heights, even if "The Ghost Sonata" could almost be on "The Silence In Black And White". Instead of writing simple pop-oriented songs with screaming in it (The HH trademark!), Knife Of Liberty have a much more distinct metal base to their music. The songs are filled with heavy guitar compositions, ranging from the complex scales to oscillating riffs contesting Norma Jean, leaving a mark of intelligence on their music. Knife Of Liberty don't simply write 'slit my wrists/black my eyes' music about failed relationships, they actually understand how to write a catchy chorus and where to throw in screaming so that it doesn't feel misplaced or that it's only there for the sake of having some screamed vocals.

For example, "A Dream Within A Dream" starts the album with a genuinely metalcore oriented lead, before their now-departed vocalist's throaty "FORGIVE ME FATHER, FOR I HAVE SINNED!!" scream sets the scope of the record to be somewhere in between emo/screamo and metalcore. The contrast between the "THE SILENCE THAT KILLS WHAT WE'VE BUILT.. IS DEAFENING, IT'S DEAFENING" screamed and clean vocals in "When Strangers Call" shows that the band has internalized the clean/scream dynamic well, and the chorus later on in the song sets in stone that Knife Of Liberty knows how to write a catchy chorus as well. This can especially be seen in "The May Irwin Kiss", my favorite track on the album, where the chorus of this song will eventually lead into some of the biggest singalongs seen in a screamo gig in Denmark, when the band gets the recognition it deserves for writing songs this good.

What's fantastic about their debut is that there aren't really any weak songs on it. Every track is good in its own way, whether that means a few solid scream parts, a sweet metalcore guitar line or a catchy, singalongable chorus. In summary, what you are getting with "Knife Of Liberty" is a bunch of catchy-as-hell choruses contrasted by throaty emotional screams, fitted underneath a combined emocore/metalcore instrumental setting - had Knife Of Liberty formed in the US a few years ago they'd undoubtedly now be signed to Victory, selling up to 50k copies of this record. That's obviously not gonna happen here in Denmark, but this is a start, an impressive one I might add, and I can with confidence name it the best Danish screamo record to date. Keep up the progress.

Download: The May Irwin Kiss, When Strangers Call, A Dream Within A Dream
For the fans of: Hawthorne Heights, Trusted Few, A Static Lullaby, Silverstein
Listen: Myspace

Release date 01.08.2007
UNSIGNED BAND

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