"O.G.B.D." (which stands for "Orighetto Beatdown", where I assume "Orighetto" is a reference to the Oriketo area of Turku, Finland) is the debut outing from Finnish sextet (that's right, two vocalists) .45 Stainless (released by German label Beatdown Hardwear). And based on that sentence alone, you should already be well aware that this band operates in the "beatdown" vein of the chugging metallic hardcore spectrum—citing influences such as Shattered Realm, Irate, and of course the masters of this niche, Bulldoze. Expect eight tracks in just 21 minutes dominated by pounding rhythmic grooves and massive breakdowns, occasionally accented by quick little Slayer-styled runs, pinch harmonics, and I think there's even a divebomb or two in there! They use the dual vocal approach to take the high/low road by combining death metal-esque grunts/growls with midrange sneers, and while I'm generally not into "metalcore" that brings the over the top growling vocals to the table, these guys pull it off, in large part due to solid songwriting that gets right down to business. The recording is pretty damn perfect for this style, too. The guitar tone is nice and meaty, you can hear the bass plugging away in the background, the kick drums are thick as hell, the mix is well-balanced... yeah, this shit definitely sounds great. Even the samples are nicely integrated into the tracks (which is extremely rare)—they don't disrupt the flow or delay the impact at all, which is nice. Unfortunately, I've lost track of a lot of what's going on in Finland these days, but apparently their hardcore scene is still cranking out some of the best contemporary "metalcore" out there, and that's just awesome. Check out two tracks from .45 Stainless below:
In addition to the following links, you can also email the band to get your hands on CD's and merch...
Get It
Beatdown Hardwear (CD)
Amazon.com (mp3)
iTunes (mp3)
Comments
Thank the Finnish God, Antti DMT/St.hood for the sounds.
9.7.2011 | By XHenkkaX
Love this post, dude… been meaning to check these guys out forever. But gotta say (re: previous comment) I don’t know what Antti had to do with this release—if he’s in the group or whatnot—but I’ll thank him when there’s new DMT material. “Through the River of Denial” is extremely high on my list of best records that never received a follow-up. Matter of fact, that should be it’s own conversation… what’s a better swan song than Through the River?
9.7.2011 | By Marcus
Marcus, he recorded it. He’s recorded/produced a great number of Finnish releases in the recent years and a lot of bands approach him when they want that particular, well, “Malinen sound”. And a lot of people do.
9.8.2011 | By XHenkkaX
Thanks again Andrew for the review. Yeah Antti Malinen indeed did record “O.G.B.D.” and he has been responsible for numerous Finnish band’s sound over the years. I can agree totally Marcus on DMT and “Through The River Of Denial” and it’s sad that Down My Throat is no more. .45 Stainless merchandise and cd’s are available also straight from us, the band via; .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) -we have new shirts coming up next week (19.9.), designs that our label does not have. Beatdown Hardwear, again has special shirt designs that aren’t available from us, so check them out of course as well!
9.9.2011 | By xMarkusxKTL
And as i FORGOT to mention, you can listen the WHOLE album on Spotify;
http://open.spotify.com/album/4Y7XtnJpGDtmZfQiSxnfvx
9.9.2011 | By xMxKTL/.45