Hurt stormed onto the hard rock scene in 2006 with this debut, which they were quick to follow up on in 2007 (guess the title). They are difficult to describe, and that can be a good thing. It is near impossible to find a unique sounding band these days. They struck me, at least on this record, as a hodgepodge of post-grunge and alternative rock. I can hear some Nine Inch Nails, Tool, and Cold. Dense, thick guitars and equally thick vocals constitute most of the darkened atmosphere that permeates every track, but I give them props for incorporating some remarkably good orchestration in many places. The singer is clearly talented, but when he slips up to the excessive growling, it just ruins it for me. Doom and gloom, slow and plodding. It gets old fast."Rapture" and "Falls Apart" were released as singles, and were decent choices. I prefer "Unkind" - a nice heavy riff mixed with a likable chorus with harmonies to boot. Another cool track is the acoustic-driven change of pace, "Danse Russe". Other than that, there is not much here for fans of AOR and melodic rock. Hurt is interesting to listen to, but not a band that will probably see repeated spins in my player.
Hurt on MySpace. Official site.
iPOD-worthy: 7, 8
Check out the video for "Rapture":
No comments:
Post a Comment