If you wanna enjoy your Texas ribs and cold beer with heavy music, there are some definite choices. Now you can add Frontlines to that list. This quintet plays Texas-sounding metal, but they come from Oulu, Northern Finland.

Frontlines do sound a lot like that certain band from Texas (their classic post 1990 era), which was disbanded and later on the legendary guitarist was shot onstage. Yeah, this demo is groovy, well rolling and streetwise. The riffs are sonorous, animate, and above all, they go under the skin when given time. The songs aren't as catchy as on the debut demo, but these open up with time. However, I still find the debut's songs better! The rhythm section is tight; the drumming is actually more lively than Pantera's ever was. The vocals are non-melodic, manly bellow which fit well into the music. It's about making music that is no more done by the originators. It brings a lot of memories, and methods such as no rhythm guitar during a guitar solo (this is when the rhythm section really proves its power) feel cozy. The sound is awesome; better than on many a professional studio work. Bloody nicely all-round, all-covering production is both organic and heavy.

I think this is closer to Pantera than the first demo, so I wish the band would bring forth more of their souls. Or perhaps they do already... I mean Pantera plays a huge part of my musical world (I'm not saying "playing", because I haven't hit the skins for a decade or so, but anyways; where the hell does time tick to???). But if North American groovy metal is your thing, do yourself a favour and check out Frontlines.

Reviewed by Lane
12/17/2009 21:11