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Sort of Stockholm-based all-star band formed by musicians who are ex- or still active members of Face Down, Terror 2000, Soilwork and Darkane; they actually debuted with 4 MCD's and their full length "Repent" (dated 2001) in the most typical style of their mother bands and only now do they try to vary and enrich their sound with several influences belonging to the Nu-metal environment. In the beginning the contrast between the 2 elements may appear bothering, but slowly you become accostumed to that, and listen by listen you get conquered, so I suggest you take your time to assimilate this record.

Their style englobes Swedish Death/Thrash, Nu-metal and their new singer Peter recurs to his every type of vocals (clean, growls, like in "Pinhook", aggressive a là John Bush Anthrax-era and even demonic like in "Bricks"); the opener and "Wounded" also use some keyboards lines, and the latter is rife with samples yet the drums remain human. Going back to the vocals, the best ones are undoubtely the catchy ones backing up in the chorus of "Rise" and the ones in "Bitter End".
I was stunned by "Hate", since it starts fast and furious, ends the same way but includes a remarkable melodic structure just when you won't expect it any more. Another aggressive and tight composition is "Cancer", including a cool refrain and joined "The Saviour" without any pause; as for "The Saviour", I can't but say it borrows a great number of tricks and patterns from the Slipknot albums but after all, so what? I liked it quite a lot and that's what matters.
A perfect union of Swedish metal with US indie rock is contained in "Disbelief", whereas "New Skin" kicks some ass owing to a twisted unforgettable riff and the top-notch vocal lines.
Finally, "Re-arrange" and "Turn" are the ones blending the 2 main genres without slowing or becoming melodic, which happens in all of the previous tracks.

This CD is not bad at all,indeed on some occasions it shows brilliant hints. It's also available in a digipack version containing 2 unreleased tracks not present in this promo CD I received; it deals with the demo versions of 2 old tracks appeared on the above-cited mini-CDs, and there are some multimedia tracks as well. The only thing that music-wise didn't satisfy much was the recording, good but not brilliant by Peter Wichers (Soilwork) and Richard Larsson, which is acceptable when you work with a low budget.
However, if you preferred the old singer and Construcdead's traditional style, you will not appreciate this record very much and you'll feel betrayed; depends on the point of view. I am in favour of experiments but I hate to see how much Swedish bands are influenceable by the mainstream; now that In Flames (just to name one of the leading bands) have embodied this alliance of styles, lots of local bands do the same, while when in the early '90s In Flames and so on used to be aggressive in their own genre, hardly no-one dared to try new solutions and almost everyone copied them. We shall all patiently wait for a third full-length at the height of the members' potentialities, proving that they will have become real leaders in this 5-piece too.

MARKUS GANZHERRLICH - 12/11/04

Contacts:
E-mail: rickard@construcdead.com
E-mail: joakim@construcdead.com
www.construcdead.com

Discography:
-The New Constitution (MCD - 1999)
-Turn (MCD - 2000)
-As Time Bleeds (MCD - 2000)
-God after Me (MCD - 2001)
-Repent (CD - 2001)
-Violadead (CD - 2003)

Live at the Anchor Pub

	Construcdead 'Violadead' (Black Lodge records) MARK: 77/100



	Sort of Stockholm-based all-star band formed by musicians who are ex- or still active members of Face Down, Terror 2000, Soilwork and Darkane; they actually debuted with 4 MCD's and their full length "Repent" (dated 2001) in the most typical style of their mother bands and only now do they try to vary and enrich their sound with several influences belonging to the Nu-metal environment. In the beginning the contrast between the 2 elements may appear bothering, but slowly you become accostumed to that, and listen by listen you get conquered, so I suggest you take your time to assimilate this record. Their style englobes Swedish Death/Thrash, Nu-metal and their new singer Peter recurs to his every type of vocals (clean, growls, like in "Pinhook", aggressive a là John Bush Anthrax-era and even demonic like in "Bricks"); the opener and "Wounded" also use some keyboards lines, and the latter is rife with samples yet the drums remain human. Going back to the vocals, the best ones are undoubtely the catchy ones backing up in the chorus of "Rise" and the ones in "Bitter End". I was stunned by "Hate", since it starts fast and furious, ends the same way but includes a remarkable melodic structure just when you won't expect it any more. Another aggressive and tight composition is "Cancer", including a cool refrain and joined "The Saviour" without any pause; as for "The Saviour", I can't but say it borrows a great number of tricks and patterns from the Slipknot albums but after all, so what? I liked it quite a lot and that's what matters. A perfect union of Swedish metal with US indie rock is contained in "Disbelief", whereas "New Skin" kicks some ass owing to a twisted unforgettable riff and the top-notch vocal lines. Finally, "Re-arrange" and "Turn" are the ones blending the 2 main genres without slowing or becoming melodic, which happens in all of the previous tracks. This CD is not bad at all,indeed on some occasions it shows brilliant hints. It's also available in a digipack version containing 2 unreleased tracks not present in this promo CD I received; it deals with the demo versions of 2 old tracks appeared on the above-cited mini-CDs, and there are some multimedia tracks as well. The only thing that music-wise didn't satisfy much was the recording, good but not brilliant by Peter Wichers (Soilwork) and Richard Larsson, which is acceptable when you work with a low budget. However, if you preferred the old singer and Construcdead's traditional style, you will not appreciate this record very much and you'll feel betrayed; depends on the point of view. I am in favour of experiments but I hate to see how much Swedish bands are influenceable by the mainstream; now that In Flames (just to name one of the leading bands) have embodied this alliance of styles, lots of local bands do the same, while when in the early '90s In Flames and so on used to be aggressive in their own genre, hardly no-one dared to try new solutions and almost everyone copied them. We shall all patiently wait for a third full-length at the height of the members' potentialities, proving that they will have become real leaders in this 5-piece too. MARKUS GANZHERRLICH - 12/11/04 Contacts: E-mail: rickard@construcdead.com E-mail: joakim@construcdead.com www.construcdead.com Discography: -The New Constitution (MCD - 1999) -Turn (MCD - 2000) -As Time Bleeds (MCD - 2000) -God after Me (MCD - 2001) -Repent (CD - 2001) -Violadead (CD - 2003) Live at the Anchor Pub