The Kandidate – Facing The Imminent Prospect Of Death
Two years ago I (and the world) was introduced to Denmark’s The Kandidate. Their debut, Until We Are Outnumbered, was solid and packed a serious punch, but lacked the depth and songwriting needed to have any real staying power. Now they are back with their newest collection of thrashing death n’ roll titled Facing The Imminent Prospect Of Death, and it seems that they have taken my advice and made some minor corrections. Or at least that’s what I’d like to imagine. Hey, a guy can at least dream can’t he?
Let me go ahead and say this. If you’re a fan of trendy girly-boy singing, swoopy hair, dubstep wub-wubs and/or bands that utilize an abundance of studio trickery, then you better turn and run before the band and their fans cannibalize your remains. Simply put, The Kandidate are a no-frills four piece that aren’t about fads or gimmicks. They’re about creating cataclysmic backdrops of pain with just their guitars, bass, drums and vocals…period.
The appropriately titled “Death” opens the album and, to my chagrin, it’s basically nothing more than a minute and forty second intro. With a title like “Death”, I was hoping to have my head caved in, but no luck. Bummer. Fortunately though, with punkish drumming, grating guitar riffs and Jacob Bredahl’s (ex-Hatesphere) brutish vox comes “Beyond The Mind, Sleep You’ll Find”. And believe me, it gets the furious neck-wrenching started quickly. Fusing the death n’ roll stylings of Entombed with the thrashier elements of new-era Sepultura and The Haunted, you can bet your ass that these Danes mean business.
Just about every track on the album is a winner but I’d have to say that “One And Alone”, “Let The Maggots Have It”, “Fucked In The Search For Life” and “Disillusionized” are easily my favorites. “One And Alone” is a coarse and extremely rigid track full of bloodthirsty six-strings and vicious vocals. In “Let The Maggots Have It”, Allan Tvedebrink, KB Larsen and Niels Peter’s brash guitar, bass and drum work is as devilish as it is diabolical in this Wolverine Blues-esque (Entombed) chunking creature. “Fucked In The Search For Life” moves at a blistering pace with its brash skins, punk-infused axes and scratchy vocal lines. “Disillusionized” features a heavy dose of Derrick Green (Sepultura) meets LG Petrov (Entombed) style throat alongside an absolutely berating backdrop of musical madness.
There are a couple of drawbacks that I found within this record though. One downer lies in the fact that it’s over in what seems like no time at all. Coming in at only a little over thirty-one minutes long, I would’ve liked to have seen the songs fleshed out a little bit more, but it didn’t happen. This is merely a personal preference and I realize that to some this will be more of a positive than a negative, so to each his own. And secondly, even though the band has mixed it up quite a bit this time around (monotony was a key issue with their debut), I still think there are instances where certain patterns are overused ad nauseum.
If you enjoyed The Kandidate’s debut you are in for a real treat this time around. Facing The Imminent Prospect Of Death greatly expands on everything their first disc did right and corrects most of the issues I (and fans) had with it as well. If you’re a stranger who savors the flavor of no holds barred, smash mouth metal that comes at you like a battering ram to the skull then look no further. Your dinner is served.
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23 Comments
January 8th, 2012 at 1:08 pm
This sounds like a real heavy hitter, Lee. Great review!
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Lee replied:
January 8th, 2012 at 1:23 pm
It really is man. Thanks for the props and checking it out.
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January 8th, 2012 at 1:47 pm
this band is massive, heard the previous album and im shocked why I haven’t found them earlier. Def gonna put a spin here.
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Lee replied:
January 8th, 2012 at 1:59 pm
Cool. If you like the samples, wait till you hear the album.
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January 8th, 2012 at 1:52 pm
When does this come out? This is right up my alley! I like the samples of their previous album, I’m gonna grab that one now!
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Lee replied:
January 8th, 2012 at 2:00 pm
It comes out Feb. 12th in the states. It’s good stuff man, you won’t be disappointed.
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January 8th, 2012 at 6:27 pm
Oh my god, that bummer picture. Golden, Lee, golden. Definately gonna give this a listen btw, sounds really interesting. Haven’t heard of these guys, so good find, I suppose. Generally interested in Death so, myeah… I’ll keep you updated on my thougts when I heard it!
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Lee replied:
January 8th, 2012 at 9:36 pm
Ha Ha Ha! Thanks Job. Absolutely give it a spin and let me know what you think.
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January 8th, 2012 at 7:34 pm
I love the last album of this guys and i realy hope they do better on this one,i just have to wait and see.
For what i read seems to be great,nice review Lee as always.cheers
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Lee replied:
January 8th, 2012 at 9:39 pm
As you can tell Davide, I think they have clearly outdone their debut. And thanks man, I really appreciate it.
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January 8th, 2012 at 7:48 pm
Always a fan of Jacob Bredahl’s voice. This one sounds promising~~
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Lee replied:
January 8th, 2012 at 9:40 pm
Cool. Definitely check it out then.
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Sui replied:
January 8th, 2012 at 10:12 pm
Definitely.
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January 8th, 2012 at 8:37 pm
This sounds good Lee…… Nice review man. Good start to 2012……..
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Lee replied:
January 8th, 2012 at 9:40 pm
It is man, it is. I appreciate it and yes…..a great way to start the year.
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January 8th, 2012 at 10:04 pm
loved what I heard from the sample, not too familiar with them. Will give them a shot. I have said many times before and will say it again, Great review Lee
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Lee replied:
January 9th, 2012 at 8:39 pm
Sweet Rafael. I honestly think that you will like this album a lot. It comes out in Feb., so let me know what you think when you hear it.
And thanks for the kind words.
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January 8th, 2012 at 11:32 pm
Lee, I will get this
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Lee replied:
January 9th, 2012 at 8:39 pm
Good.
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January 11th, 2012 at 10:59 am
this seems like a perfect combination of “awaken from hibernation” music and “chase down and maul dub-step hipsters in unruly merging of both plaid and skinny jeans attire” type of music. just like a beard – which as you know one must have bear to spell beard – this will grow well on you. roar.
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Lee replied:
January 13th, 2012 at 5:46 pm
HA HA HA!
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February 1st, 2012 at 7:14 pm
I need to check this out… These are local boys! Jacob Bredahl is a really cool guy and he always kicks ass on stage!
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Lee replied:
February 1st, 2012 at 7:15 pm
As you can see….I highly recommend it.
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