Originally formed as a two piece in 2005, The Kandidate produced a highly-touted demo and went through numerous member changes. In 2008, the band found themselves in need of a singer until they stumbled upon Jacob Bredahl (ex-Hatesphere). With Bredahl, The Kandidate had finally found the frontman they always wanted. With their new album Until We Are Outnumbered about to drop, the band suddenly finds themselves in the spotlight. But will this Kandidate have the total vote of the people?

“Strength Through Diversity” opens the album with a shotgun blast to the cranium. The Kandidate’s crust-core brutality immediately caught my ear. The maddening blast beats are layered with nasty guitars and killer grooves, all at mind melting speeds. I would describe the band’s sound as early Entombed (Left Hand Path and Clandestine era) mixed with newer Sepultura and The Haunted. So being heavy isn’t a problem for these guys at all. Bredahl’s vocals are top notch, and remind me of a lethal combination of Peter Dolving (The Haunted) and Mogge Lundin (2 Ton Predator).

“Shut ‘em Up” is straight up, good old “Death ‘n Roll” metal. The almost hardcore punk drumming pulverizes your brain cells, while the overly distorted six strings completely mangle your ear canals. This song reminds me of the good ol’ days when Entombed and Dismember ruled my cd player.

The album does have one major drawback, though. Throughout the entire disc, the drum patterns and song stylings don’t change much at all. Once you’ve heard one song, you have pretty much heard them all. With this style, it’s absolutely paramount for the band to add little elements to each track to give them all their own identity. Unfortunately, The Kandidate doesn’t do that, so it seems like there isn’t much variance from one song to the next.

A song like “In Hell” is a perfect example of what I’m talking about. The opening sees the band rock along with a killer mid-tempo groove that would have been a great change of pace. But, once again, they head right back into the same formula as heard on the other tracks. They do, at times, add some cool grooves in for good measure, but find themselves falling back into the original patterns.

The album ends with two killer tracks in “Enemy” and “Yours Truly.” This is the direction that I would have like the album to go as a whole. “Enemy” is an ultra brutal backbreaker that will leave you wanting more. The guttural guitar tones go hand in hand with the punchy drums and monster grooves. “Yours Truly” is a hellacious piece of work if I’ve ever heard one. Goliath-sized grooves are mixed with thunderous drums and disgustingly sick vocal work. Totally awesome tracks!

In the end, The Kandidate’s Until We Are Outnumbered is an album that will both destroy your senses, and numb them with repetition as well. I believe they are a band that, once they find their groove and hit their stride, will be unstoppable.

3.5/5