vote
7.0
- Bands:
FOREIGN HANDS - Duration: 00:28:00
- Available from: 06/21/2024
- Label:
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Sharptone Records
Streaming not yet available
After the acclaimed EP “Bleed the Dream”, Foreign Hands return with their first full-length, entitled “What’s Left Unsaid”, a record that inaugurates the new contract with SharpTone Records. As was the case with the 2022 mini, this new work also takes little to confirm itself as a passionate tribute to a certain American metalcore of the early 2000s, showing various stylistic solutions and a guitar and vocal approach that refer to formulas popularized above all by the Trustkill catalog around a twenty years ago.
With the previous EP, the band had demonstrated a notable talent in revisiting the sounds of that period, thanks also to the contribution in the composition and production phase of Isaac Hale of Knocked Loose: the songs of “Bleed the Dream” had in fact stood out for various well-chosen references, but also for a fresh and at the same time coherent development, rich in facets and nuances, both in the riffing and in the melodies.
With “What’s Left Unsaid”, an album produced by Will Putney, Foreign Hands instead seem to opt for slightly more compact and standard structures, denoting greater verve on a rhythmic level, but at the same time also a pinch less sound research. Overall, the group continues to be inspired by the great exponents of the American scene at the beginning of the millennium, maintaining a rather organic approach to music. This translates into a spontaneous sound, not excessively compressed or mechanical, which makes listening pleasant and authentic. Foreign Hands’ interpretation is genuine, and their ability to evoke the atmosphere of the early 2000s is undeniable. Overall, however, this time there is a bit of a lack of finesse in the arrangements and of greater sagacity in the retrieval of the various elements: the pieces of the mini brought together the suggestions of different subcultures and genres (early Poison The Well, 7 Angels 7 Plagues, Killswitch Engage, etc.), juxtaposed with wisdom and balance by the quintet, while on “What’s Left Unsaid” the development of the individual songs is drier and more predictable, with a song form that can sometimes quickly run out of steam.
Although some tracks may therefore be less brilliant and refined compared to the high expectations generated by the EP, this first full-length still represents a good long-term debut for a band that objectively has yet to gain experience. Great pieces like “Horror Domain” or “Magnetic Roses” actually seem to have come out of a “Tear from the Red” and, overall, the performance of the album testifies to the group’s passion and its ability to keep interest in a subgenre alive which, although not new, still has something to offer in terms of emotions and sound quality. We now hope for a new step forward in terms of artistic maturity with the next studio appointment.
