NineSweden’s heavy hitters are back with an EP featuring 4 tracks. Let’s get one thing clear before I progress with this review. Nine are the best European hardcore band at the moment. It’s a pity they have gone relatively unnoticed in the States. The songs on this mini-player pick up right where their 2003 release, ‘Killing Angels’ left off. Brutal yet melodic, primitive yet complex, sometimes subdued yet always enraged. First track, ‘Everything Went Black’ features some guitar work that alternates between melodic hard rock and thick-as-molasses, sludge metal. Just as you get the feeling you’re hearing a classic riff in the making, your head is pounded by a dense and slow-moving gallop. The drumming on this song and throughout the EP is simple yet inducing. The bass-work thumps along effectively throughout each song and in particular, ‘The Long Sleep’. Johan’s vocal work is excellent as usual, mainly decipherable yet as frantic as a serial killer badgering his soon-to-be victim. The CD closes with a cover of Poison Idea’s, ‘Just To Get Away’. Definitely an interesting choice for a cover, however, Nine pull it off admirably. They manage to do what all good cover versions should, hold the integrity of the original while making the song your own, in one way or another. I doubt any long time Nine fan would mistake this for a Nine original, but they put enough of their mark on this tune to make it fit in on this release.
Rating: 10/10
Contact: www.myspace.com/killingangels www.killingangels.com