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This review was written a few days ago during some heavy rainfall, so this cover above depicted the view from my window quite fairly. For some reason I forgot to actually post this and didn't check the blog to notice that a post is missing, so here it is now despite the fact that the weather outside is rather nice now.
"Flags Raised" is a quintet hailing from Glasgow which formed sometime in early 2010. Thus far this has been their only release, coming out on 15 January 2011. Although they have just a single album under their belt it is quite enough to make the listener fall in love with their tunes and see what these young lads are capable of. Personally speaking, I only truly enjoy a few handpicked hardcore bands and I have to say that "Flags Raised" are going to be a worthy addition to the group. Usually I need some time to digest bands like this, so to speak, since most of the times I find them kinda blank during the initial listen. Here however, I instantly liked their tunes ever since I took a listen on their bandcamp page (which you can find here by the way).
So, what is going on here making the band so special? First of all, the thing that grabbed my attention almost instantly is the vocal. Thinking about it now, the vocal performance is really hard to explain, since I really consider it a unique one. A coarse, raspy voice with an extremely deep tone, walking on the triple border between screaming, talking and reciting. Nick's performance is filled with tension, simply because of the fact that while you listen you don't know whether he is going to burst into a scream or will a sort of sing along ensue or will you just be left with that tense feeling of unexpectedness until the end. I consider this vocal variety quite an important merit, especially in hardcore, simply because it breaks the usual flat line copy/paste flaw which a lot of the bands in the genre possess.
The above mentioned variety in sound also extends on the instrument section and it is definitely worth a praise. Literally speaking, "Flags Raised" throw a sonic time bomb in your lap and every tick of the clock is maddening, in the most positive of ways. Much like the vocal, the song composition is quite complex with a lot of twists and changes in pace and melody, so once again you don't know what you will get to hear around the corner in a particular song. No matter the speed of the songs, each and every second on "Now Or Never" is extremely charged with passion and the sounds throw a formidable punch to the listener and simply urge you to listen with the volume turned up to its maximum. My absolute favorite is the final track of the release, "It's Not Getting Any Easier", the song being a perfect example of all the great things this band has to offer. "Flags Raised" have a very powerful sound which completely swallows you and you have a feeling that you are listening to more people playing, rather than just five dudes. The instruments go well with the vocal in the sense that they also harbor a very deep tone and I had a feeling that the bass is much louder than usual, which was quite entertaining to hear. No wonder the cover of their album looks the way it does, since the music really has a darkish atmosphere hovering above it. At times hardcore bands which have that grim tone to their music also incorporate a sludge or crust edge to spice up and extend that brooding feeling, but here they stayed within the boundaries of their mother genre and it definitely sounds great. While we are at the subject of what it all sounds like, it is worth mentioning some possible influences of the band. Despite me considering that they have a lot of things that are unique solely to them, "Flags Raised" remind me at times of a crude and more raw version of "Touche Amore" and also bands like "Crime in Stereo" and "American Nightmare".
And what to say in the end, other than that I really hope that "Flags Raised" are a band that will stick around and provide the world with more music to enjoy. I look forward to hearing something more from them and will definitely keep an eye out for them. You can get in touch with them via their facebook page found here. So what are you waiting for, stop reading and start downloading!
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