Band: Coldwar Album: Bloodfire Sunset Label: Underground Movement Rating: 5/10 Website: http://www.thisiscoldwar.com BUY NOW!

Dublin, Ireland's Coldwar plays an aggressive mix of hardcore, thrash, and old school grind and death metal. Calling the U.K. its home, the group has a definite U.K. grind influence, i.e., Bolt Thrower. The music mostly grinds away at a chugging mid pace. In the case of the beginning of "We are Murder", the group sets a more leisurely pace, heading into doom metal territories, but still with a death metal backbone like Grave. Pummeling kick drums soon cut into the mix and maintain this track's driving force. The band's ability to breakdown riffs into hardcore sections and bolt thrower-like rhythms is one of the redeeming qualities of "Bloodfire Sunset." The other noteworthy aspect of the band's playing is the drums. Drummer, Marty's double bass and cymbal work moves the pace along and supports the group's brutality. While the group has a knack for creating heavy breakdowns and technical drumming, "Bloodfire Sunset" is lacking in many areas. First and foremost, the production could use some fine tuning. The cymbals have an annoying shrillness due to being too high in the mix. It is difficult to identify the main cause of the weak vocals. Either the singer has not properly developed his growling skills or the production places his voice too low in the mix. Whatever the problem may be, the vocals need work. Also, they have engaging guitar rhythms in some places, but their rhythms seem elementary and undeveloped in other places. As stated before, "Bloodfire Sunset" could benefit from a better production. Some albums don't properly capture a band's sound. One needs to witness a band on stage to truly appreciate their art. It is easy to see how this material would translate well in a live setting with its mosh-worthy rhythms and overall heaviness. In fact, the group has gained a following by touring and opening for some of punk, hardcore, and metal's biggest acts including Anthrax, Hatebreed, Agnostic Front, Discharge, Exploited, Converge, GBH, and Cephalic Carnage. Those living in the Dublin area can decide for yourselves as they will be there supporting Napalm Death in August. Darren Cowan Back to Reviews