Blowsight: Life & Death

You've got to admire a band who want to knock down the ever towering genre boundaries and simply play what they want, when they want and to not care if others think it is the way to go. Does it guarantee an album, in the shape of the third offering, Life & Death, from Swedes Blowsight, that you'll want to spend prolonged time with though? Well, that's not such a given...

In the end, the very strength that Blowsight want to illustrate, their ability to be as they describe it "PopMetalPunk", is their undoing. Is there anything wrong with the bouncy, strangely kinda Cameo/Gun "Word Up" of "Play Play Play"? Not at all. Does the modern Metal meets Pop, via a Dub beat and handclaps of "Hit On Radio" stick in the mind and feel like a friend when you hear it again? It sure does. Is the lame Rap and synth beats of "We All Fall Down" the sort of thing I'd instantly turn off if it arrived on my TV? Oh yes. And does "Dystopia II" come across as some angst ridden teens deciding they too can be all eras of Queen and employ piano, strings, falsetto vocals and long winding guitar solos? Oh, no doubt I'm afraid to say.

Does it all come together to make an album worthy of listening to from start to end? Not on your, my, or indeed Blowsight's nelly. But then if you never listen to albums from start to finish and simply shuffle your way through your musical life, then maybe, just maybe these individual shots of genre blurring and idea hopping suddenly make the most perfect of sense?

In the end, whether I admire the muscular rifferama of "It's Me You're Looking For" (an opening track that genuinely raised my hopes for Life & Death), the Screamo of "Surprise", or the funked up brass infused "Red Riding Blues", I simply don't need the Rap dross of "Through These Eyes" to completely ruin the otherwise atmospheric AOR it provides, or for the short Rob Zombie B-Movie spoken track "They Whisper..." to promise a threatening burst of thundering bombast that simply never arrives.

I can't criticise Blowsight for pushing boundaries and refusing to bow down to expectations. Yet neither can I say that they don't end up asking more questions than it ever feels like they know the answer to.

Track Listing
1. It's Me You're Looking For
2. Back Where We Belong
3. Play Play Play
4. The Sun Behind The Rain
5. Through These Eyes(feat. Pato Pooh)
6. Surprise
7. Hit On The Radio
8. They Whisper...
9. This Rain
10. Blackout Time
11. We All Fall Down
12. Red Riding Blues
13. Dystopia II (Album Version)

Added: February 9th 2014
Reviewer: Steven Reid
Score:
Related Link: Blowsight Online
Hits: 1852
Language: english

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