10 FOLD B-LOW

Describing itself as "nu-death-metalcore" was my first indication that Germany's 10 FOLD B-LOW were going to be more aggravating than groundbreaking. While I'm not sure I'd tag my band's sound with that muddled description, it is an example of truth in advertising. "For Those Who Share the Sun" is a sort of aggro-thrash, sometimes DM-ish, nu-metal-down-tuned-riff-bounce kind of album that misses more than it hits. 10 FOLD B-LOW will end up alienating more people than they make by trying to reach a broader cross-section of fans. That poor excuse for a band name doesn't help either.

For almost every section of industrial-powered pit slams, there's a clean (read: nu) vocal section that is incredibly awkward. I can handle the so-so songwriting and down-tuned bounce on tracks like "The Seed" and "Falling" because there is at least a convincing level of violence. But man, those clean vocal parts are just awful. Pushing the melodic factor further on "Call of Conscience" only makes it worse. The death growl punch-ins amidst the mid-range harsh lead-vocals work to some degree when paired with the more neck-snapping fare. Attempts at broadening the sound further with a dissonant chord breakdown on "…to Carry On" or an ethereal break on the title track sound forced and kill whatever momentum is left. An acoustic instrumental called "Dusk and Darkness" is ridiculously out of place.

Chucking the feeble attempts at melody and going with more skull-crackers like "Bloodgoreon" and "Cut Myself" would have made the album more appealing (and less distracting). "For Those Who Share the Sun" has its moments and I've certainly heard worse. Mostly, it just left me feeling dissatisfied and irritated.