New breed.
This is the sixth full length from the German metal five piece, Fear My Thoughts, but after ten years, it’s their first with a new vocalist; Martin Fischer. Fischer brings a totally different vocal approach, resulting of course in a very different sound to the band. A quick listen to the old and new tracks on their myspace page makes it clear straight away; far from the crunchy, manic screaming of their old records, Fischer is from the crooning Mike Patton/James Hetfield school of vocals, so the band have lost most of their metalcore/hardcore sound with this new record and gone for a more classic, uncomplicated sound.
Yes this is still a super heavy record; down-tuned guitars, epic riffs and sludge aplenty, but this record seems slightly more straightforward, going for a power metal approach with goth and black metal overtones instead of mixing it all up with the slightly more punk/thrash edge of old. Fischer’s vocals add more of a melodic approach and this with the addition of organ/piano means they sound more like a standard euro-metal band instead of an interesting metal hybrid.
There are some good tunes here like ‘The Hunted’, which is insanely fast and heavy, but also has a slower, more melodic chorus with catchy sing along sections and the musicianship is as impressive as ever with complicated and intricate riffs and manic drumming. But unfortunately they’ve lost some of their bite. This record is slick and heavy and tuneful, but it isn’t as interesting as their previous output; Fischer has a good range but he’s not as creative, aggressive or impressive as Mathias Benedikt von Ockl.