Fortytwo from Norway offer something else than black metal for all to listen to. It could be a fresh breath of air, but instead it's like a whiff of musty flatus from a corpse's anus. Not that I'm smelling at 'em, but it's just a wild guess from me.

Anyway, this 5-song EP 'In the Center of the Storm' is the fifth release from the band that've already disbanded. After this, they got their debut full-length album out, but I'm not keen at all to check it out after this horrible effort. To tell the truth, I cannot recall how I even got this! Probably on some package as an extra with some albums I bought.

Fortytwo have managed to pen some most boring, forgettable and unoriginal songs that I've ever had a chance to listen to. Listed as a melodic death metal band in the biggest metal music archive in the whole wide world, and probably the whole universe, and even beyond it, Fortytwo perform some metalcore kind of shit here. Like a totally uninspired bastard child of Pro-Pain, Machine Head and The Haunted, 42 both pound and cool down through these five songs. Their pounding gets rather aggressive at times, actually, but those calmer parts are like eating shitty shoe soles. Well, 'Desolation' has some harmonic twin guitar playing on it, in vein of modern In Flames, but if that makes band a melodic death metal one, then shoot me, please.

Some of the riffs aren't the worst ever, but they are heard a million times before. Hardcore way of playing guitar is what's heard here, meaning simplistic yet heavy-handed aggression towards the strings. The beats are more or less groovy and the bass follows the rhythm guitar. The second guitar throws in some discordant tremolo stuff. Add to that a very, very typical distorted screaming in metalcore style, plus clean vocals that sound like a plastered punk rocker being in a bit too emotional state. I do not know if any correct note is even tried to be reached, to tell the truth... Production-wise this sounds like a demo. It's organic and packs some punch, but is also kind of hollow.

What I get from listening to this is a lasting sensation of being stripped of all emotions a human being has. This doesn't make me angry, it just makes me totally numb. While that could sometimes be a pleasurable state to be in, not like this it is.

Rating: 2+ (out of 10) ratings explained

Reviewed by Lane
05/03/2015 16:09