 East
West
"Hope in Anguish" CD
Floodgate
Records
Genres: alternative rock, grunge, hard rock
Sep 29 - Oct 5 2003 |
"Last
time around we literally had years to write and pick out songs. This
time we came off tour, built a studio at Bobby's house to record the
demos and then had to write everything. Maybe it is just because we
spend so much time together we know what each other is thinking, but
it ended up being very relaxed and low-key. We wrote two-three songs a
day, and at night called each other and left messages of ideas for the
next day. It was a pretty incredible time."
That's how East West drummer Mike Tubbs describes the
creation of their Floodgate Records follow-up to 2001's The Light
in Guinevere's Garden, which was released on Sony
Entertainment. The band's style of music is grungy metal of a
dark and doom-oriented sort, filled with gargantuan guitar riffs and
vicious vocals. The songs on Hope in Anguish achieve what
they aim to achieve - pure horror - but are also derivative and
unoriginal.
A song like "Vacant" or "Drink Me" or [who am I
kidding?... They all sound the same] is like Slipknot or Limp
Bizkit with out the rap. Occasionally they tap into good
melodies ("Seven" springs to mind), but they don't seem to
deal with them well, often treading too far into alternative rock
norms.
Obviously there is a market for this. I'm not doubting that East
West are bad at what they do. In fact, Hope in Anguish
has enough solid moments to make their fans happy. Alternative
rock "dudes" will also enjoy the songs on this record for
what they are. As long as you aren't searching for any special
meaning or creativity, this is perfectly serviceable. But from a
more critical standpoint, East West's Here in Anguish is
far from quality music.
70%
Matt Shimmer
[Vitals: 12 tracks, distributed by Amazon, released
2003] |
