Copyright © 1992 Earache
1. Alone
2. Prepare Yourself
3. Collapse Into Despair
4. Defining Happiness
5. Uncontrolled
6. Condemned
7. Eve Of Salvation
8. The Stain
9. Suffer
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You will never lose points with the crowd by making the mundane seem esoteric. That way, they can both have something that is familiar and unchallenging but think of themselves as "progressive" or "unique" or "interesting." In the same way that in our society people who are competitive (selfish like the lowest among us) feel an obligation to also be altruistic, as if to say that they are selfish but they're also not-selfish and thus unique, bands make the best trade in recycling stuff. Confessor is this way in that they essentially hybridize old Candlemass with Metallica, giving that shadowy doom metal presence the upbeat feel of throbbing rhythm riffs, and over it add a grunge-influenced vocal which starts out brightly but then sours to a melody of diminishing intervals, trailing out into chromatic resolutions. Doom metal as a genre that embraces self-pity and the drama of feeling sorry for oneself encourages such triviality, and it's fair to note that Confessor are better than most, but their riffcraft is limited to a few historically-proven techniques and their artistic statement is one that won't stretch any boundaries. Is it art, or is it product? Either way, it's hard for a critical listener to put this on regularly.
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