Nine - Killing Angels
Deathwish Inc.
Groovy Hardcore
10 songs (38:32)
Release year: 2003
Nine, Deathwish Inc.
Reviewed by Khelek
Archive review

Swedish hardcore? I don't know very many bands in the hardcore genre, so I decided to give Nine a shot after reading some good things on other metal websites. Unfortunately this album seems to be a bit of a mixed bag and, overall, unimpressive. These guys have apparently been around for a while, having formed the band in Sweden in 1994 and releasing three full-length albums prior to this one.

The first song, Inferno, hits you with a chunky slab of guitar riffing and equally heavy drumming, with the death metal-ish vocals of Johan Lindqvist coming in immediately. The vocals are somewhat irritating, reminding me somewhat of Dez Fafara of Devildriver fame, but only in a bad, knock-off kind of way. The song structure is catchy, however it lacks any real substance and doesn't really impress me. Watching The Train Go By is a bit better; the song structure is a bit more varied and the lyrics are also better this time, dealing with depression and sadness. The vocals still stick out as a weak area to me. They go with the music, but I feel like they could be better executed. Anxiety Report adds some much needed diversity to the album and is one of the few tracks on the album that actually stood out to me. The clean vocals in the beginning aren't bad, but they would be much better if they weren't annoyingly distorted. The melody and atmosphere of this song is also more depressive instead of in-your-face, and the guys pull it off quite well. I can actually hear emotion in this song. Unfortunately it is too little, too late.

The more I listened to this album, the more the songs started to all sound the same to me. No, that is not good. I feel like this would be good background music for a deathmatch game of Quake 3 or Halo or something of that nature. For the most part it is pounding, catchy, heavy metal music. But really good music that you can listen to over and over and really take something away from? No, not particularly. Ultimately this is an album that is just too forgettable for me. I also think you have to keep in mind that these guys have released a lot of material up to this point in their career. Now, I haven't heard their past material, so I can't really speak on how much the band has changed, improved, or what have you, but I expect far more from a band that has been around for so long, and with almost the same lineup no less. Disappointing.

Killing Songs :
Watching The Train Go By, Anxiety Report
Khelek quoted 55 / 100
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