"Hungry for Nothing" is the debut full-length from New Jersey's Fight Amp (formerly known, more "officially" perhaps, as Fight Amputation, which does have a little less of a ring to it, I guess) on Translation Loss, and this is definitely the band's finest work to date. Everything's really falling into place now, from the killer recording and the tightness of the performances, to the balance of styles and influences and the way everything meshes together within compact timeframes (the entire album's just eight tracks in about 32 minutes). Whereas they started out with a lot of obvious His Hero is Gone types of influences, now all of those reference points are much more general, and they're coming into their own by diversifying quite a bit—but without losing a sense of cohesion or anything like that. They still possess that dark kind of hardcore/punk undercurrent, with a gruff multi-vocal attack and some chugging rhythms and massive, plodding basslines, but then there are also some dissonant post-hardcore types of textures and noisier Amphetamine Reptile types of twists and turns that come as a little more of a surprise, while still blending perfectly with the general landscape of what's going on here. It's cool, because while there are similar bands out there, in a lot of ways it kind of feels like Fight Amp's not trying to be the "heaviest", nor the most "rocked out", nor the most "experimental"... they're not trying to be "the most" anything, really. And that works, because everything comes naturally and they can just do what they do best, which is write strong songs and capture them with an excellent recording. Great artwork, too. Good stuff all around. As usual I'm left feeling like I should say more, but... hey, it's a slick record and I'm hoping the track below will encourage some of you to go and pick it up for yourselves.
Comments
Yeah, this is good shit. I have to admit I get a little excited anytime I see the “AmRep” influence mentioned. That particular noisy aesthetic just has a certain place in my heart… and this stuff always hits me the right way. I’ve seen stuff about these guys in all the metal mags lately and my interest was raised, but I was glad to get a chance to hear them finally (sorry, I just don’t troll Myspace). Good post, as always - thanks!
2.28.2008 | By Karl J
This is an awesome record. I don’t understand why people aren’t commenting the hell out of it. No hope, man, no hope…
2.28.2008 | By Invisible Oranges
Pretty good. Kinda on the Harkonen or Breather Resist tip. I think I liked Fight Amputation a little more but this is solid.
2.29.2008 | By Justin
Also, I noticed that in the liner note pictures, the Fight Amp bassist is wearing a Battletorn shirt. Not sure if you planned it that way, but the stars align, at least a little.
3.1.2008 | By Invisible Oranges
Tis pretty good, but too heavy for my likings but its still good.
3.1.2008 | By Tom
The new album is amazing.
3.26.2008 | By LeftForDead