Fed up with 18 minutes songs of post-estonian deathgrind where sonic dissonances echo tortured jungian burning souls?
You want it raw, you want it straight,
you want it simple and efficient ?
Appropriate time to listen to For the
Glory's « Survival of the fittest » then.
This self-proclaimed portuguese hardcore
legend may not surprise you or open the last of your extra-magnetic
shakras, but sometimes, you just need a good old kick in the jaw
rather some delicate tortures to get the adrenaline.
And that's what this album is about :
hardcore considered as an olympic discipline (if curling is, why not
hardcore?). The crew, on the roads for more than 10 years (that would
explain the legendary status), delivers with these 11 songs a compact
and coherent album in the good old NY style : youthful energy,
big guitars, fat breaks. Fast and heavy as it should be, it also
conveys a relative but persistant impression of positivity and
optimism. I mean, it is the kind of album you can listen to when you
are angry (good catharsis), but also when you are happy (on your way
to the beach, for example). It can even be a good cure against some
gloomy winter moods.
I stumbled against this « old »
album (2007) when I started to get interested in the portuguese
hardcore scene. In that aspect, For the Glory is almost as
unavoidable as Stephen King for the horror/fantastic scene : it
is just in the middle of it, seemingly since ever, and the more you
would ignore it, the more you will notice its presence.
Unfortunately, the first times I
listened to the album, I was not really convinced. As mentioned above
(and for the last time in this review), For the Glory is not trying
to re-invent the wheel according to some apocryphal plans found in
David Gilmour's suitcase. So, as a result, inattentive listenings can
make you think : « Ok, one more european clumsy emulation
of Terror... ».
I was one of those skeptical
pharisees...
Then, I had the opportunity to see them
live. Very nice surprise. When I saw all these kids, girls and boys,
sometimes surely half my age, going crazy in unison with the band,
dancing, singing, smiling, having a good time, I had to admit :
when you can get this frenzy from your fans, you can't deny you did
the job right.
With this in mind, I went back to the "Survival of the Fittest". I spent two weeks listening to it on and on
to finally understand that sometimes good music is not about new
ingredients or techniques, but just a good strong recipe cooked with
love and dedication. That's why your grandmother's rancho will always
beat any carpaccio of salmon by Alain Passard.
You don't believe me ?
Check this song, and try to stay still.
Facibooki
Myspace
Listen and buy the album from Raging Planet
If you want to pre-own it: the True spirit.
the objectivity:
- if you want to know more (and better) about the band, a very interesting interview of FTG frontman by Idioteq.
- UnderReview (PT, but quite exhaustive)
- A Trompa (PT)
the objectivity:
- if you want to know more (and better) about the band, a very interesting interview of FTG frontman by Idioteq.
- UnderReview (PT, but quite exhaustive)
- A Trompa (PT)
