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Norway’s Selfmindead describes their sound as “emo-core.” You know what that means-tortured, screamed vocals over a distorted bed of guitars, with a melodic riff thrown in here and there. The band’s image is certainly more emo than hardcore-the three men posing for pictures in the liner notes all have greasy hair, are thin, and wear hooded sweatshirts and blue jeans. The music, however, is decidedly hardcore, and I have difficulty hearing much of an emo influence at all. Instead, Selfmindead plays typical Christian hardcore, treading no new water whatsoever. The only noticeable difference between this band and the other 400 hardcore bands in the industry right now is that Selfmindead’s lyrics are uplifting. This wouldn’t be a problem, except that they are uplifting in a cheesy, CCM sort of way: The
motivation song
Fasten
your seatbelt, baby
Even these lyrics could be tolerated, though, if they fit with the music at all. Hardcore is traditionally not a genre whose lyrics are happy, and there’s a reason for that. Screaming uplifting lyrics such as the ones above in a tortured voice sounds ridiculous. As bad as these lyrics are, however, Selfmindead is even worse when they attempt to be political: I’m
getting bored with this culture
Revolution
This song peddles the same halfhearted anti-capitalism message that bands like Rage Against the Machine ran into the ground years ago, and it is nearly unlistenable. Unless you’re a die-hard fan of Christian hardcore and can handle cheesy, unimaginative lyrics, don’t waste your money on At the Barricades We Fall. Michial Farmer
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