Linea 77 - Available For Propaganda
Earache - MOSH295CD - 2005
By Philip Whitehouse
Now, those who have the misfortune to know me in real life are aware of my hatred of the more disruptive forms of copy protection that record labels, of recent months, have seen fit to inflict on promotional copies of their releases. Splitting songs into eight or so seperate tracks (which makes it a nightmare to skip to the song you were on after an interrupted listening session), silence or beeps inserted at random intervals in the songs (I still can't listen to my copy of Cannibal Corpse's last album without grinding my teeth), and worst of all, having some fucking tool announce in every last song the name of the artist, album and label. However, in this case, I can let Earache Records off. I actually prefer listening to that guy to the songs on this trainwreck of a CD.
Italian 'happy metal', they call themselves. Irritating, sub-standard punk metal, I call them. The dual vocal approach is only notable in that both singers involved are uniformly horrible, the song structures are simplistic to the point that makes Coal Chamber look like ingenious songwriters, and even the best tracks ('Inno All'Odio', 'Charon', 'Lost In A Videogame') are eventually brought down by their repetetive natures and the band's inability to decide whether they want to be The Guano Apes, Deftones or an old-school punk band. The 'edgy Southern European rock' the press release speaks of is conspicuous by its absence, and the much-touted presence of producer Dave Dominguez (Papa Roach, Orgy, Adema) has only given rise to scratchy, lo-fi guitars, random (and loud) sound effects during songs, and thin, unimpressive drums.
Dunno what the hell Earache were thinking when they picked this lot up, but I for one hope they drop them again, quick-smart.
3/10
Official Linea 77 Website
Official Earache Website
Earache - MOSH295CD - 2005
By Philip Whitehouse
Now, those who have the misfortune to know me in real life are aware of my hatred of the more disruptive forms of copy protection that record labels, of recent months, have seen fit to inflict on promotional copies of their releases. Splitting songs into eight or so seperate tracks (which makes it a nightmare to skip to the song you were on after an interrupted listening session), silence or beeps inserted at random intervals in the songs (I still can't listen to my copy of Cannibal Corpse's last album without grinding my teeth), and worst of all, having some fucking tool announce in every last song the name of the artist, album and label. However, in this case, I can let Earache Records off. I actually prefer listening to that guy to the songs on this trainwreck of a CD.
Italian 'happy metal', they call themselves. Irritating, sub-standard punk metal, I call them. The dual vocal approach is only notable in that both singers involved are uniformly horrible, the song structures are simplistic to the point that makes Coal Chamber look like ingenious songwriters, and even the best tracks ('Inno All'Odio', 'Charon', 'Lost In A Videogame') are eventually brought down by their repetetive natures and the band's inability to decide whether they want to be The Guano Apes, Deftones or an old-school punk band. The 'edgy Southern European rock' the press release speaks of is conspicuous by its absence, and the much-touted presence of producer Dave Dominguez (Papa Roach, Orgy, Adema) has only given rise to scratchy, lo-fi guitars, random (and loud) sound effects during songs, and thin, unimpressive drums.
Dunno what the hell Earache were thinking when they picked this lot up, but I for one hope they drop them again, quick-smart.
3/10
Official Linea 77 Website
Official Earache Website
