Point Blank Rage
The Sound Of Resistance
5.8
More Canadian death metal from Galy? No way. Yep, sure enough, Quebec’s Point Blank Rage fuse old school-style death metal with hardcore, more or less, but the results are mixed. While parts of The Sound of Perseverance, er, sorry, Resistance are decent enough to get by, as a whole it’s more boring than not.
A few selling points are that Alexandre Leblanc (Atheretic, Neuraxis) contributed his rough, hardcore-ish growls as frontman, Jean-Francois Dagenais handled mixing duties, and Alan Douches mastered this debut, but those novelties matter little when the end product is mundane. The title track fade-in is nice though, leading one to believe The Sound of Resistance will be more badass than it actually is, even at a mere 31 minutes. And again, while the riffs speak of earlier incarnations of death metal, it still sounds modern due to the hardcore elements and fine-tuned production. After the opener, however, there’s not much Point Blank Rage can do to stave off the monotony because songs such as “Overcoming,” “Riot,” “Blueprints to Depression,” and “This Is…,” while they vary their respective tempos, come across as uninspired. Nevertheless, “A New Pain” has a melodic beginning that works well since it contrasts with the other material, and “Stench of Corruption (The Peacemaker)” has riffs one can latch onto, as does closing number “Surrender to Tragedy.” The occasional audible bass lines are a plus, too.
As stated earlier, The Sound of Resistance is a short listen, but also fails to leave a lasting impression that will keep listeners returning for more. Point Blank Rage simply aren’t up to snuff with the best Galy has to offer. Better luck next time, I guess.
