THE KANDIDATE – Facing The Imminent Prospect Of Death

Back in 2010 the Danish Thrash/Death Metal band THE KANDIDATE released its debut album, “Until We Are Outnumbered”. See my review at this location. THE KANDIDATE is the new band of ex-HATESPHERE vocalist Jacob Bredahl. While I quite liked HATESPHERE’s latest offering, “To The Nines”, at that time, I thought “Until We Are Outnumbered” would be a similar kind of album. It was not, and while in itself that’s fine, I found it a bit too monotonous, from one pounding track to the next. Following the release of their first album, the Danish shared the stage with bands like ENTOMED, TRAP THEM and ROTTEN SOUND.

Two years later the follow-up is out under the title “Facing The Imminent Prospect Of Death” and this since the 27th January 2012. It is said that the band wanted to capture the live feel of the recordings. So, many modern techniques were discarded. Likewise for the artwork, which friend and tattoo artist Uncle Allan designed without digital imaging. Is “Facing The Imminent Prospect Of Death” than “Until We Are Outnumbered”? I’d say yes. With 11 tracks, the ride ends after little more than half an hour. Quality before quantity?

It begins with “Death” where the music comes fading in and starts to build in a way similar to MACHINE HEAD. The fat, groovy guitars and pounding drums come in, slowly but surely and Jacob’s typical shouting is also present. This slow track connects neatly with “Beyond The Mind, Sleep You’ll Find”. Here you get a fast, aggressive pounder where the hardcore/punk influences stand out, next to the Thrash elements. It’s catchy and excellent to get re-energized. The tempo drops in the chorus, but the volume and power remain. Before another energetic outbreak and the guitar solo occur, there’s a dragging middle section to go through. But all in all, a very nice song.

“One And Alone” is also about the fusion between Thrash and Hardcore. Some building first, then the fast outbreak. As you can expect, another aggressive, but emotional track, especially in the chorus. Good stuff. “Total War” pounds onwards at midtempo with an emotional outcry (the title) in the chorus. The guitars then also add some screams. solid material, though I found it a little less attractive than the others. “Modvind” comes next with its uptempo, humpa-rhythm, typical for a Thrashy song. The chorus contrasts in tempo by going a bit slower. Still, the whole sounds fat and groovy, typical for this style, this band and its colleagues like HATESPHERE, THE HAUNTED, etc…

“Let The Maggots Have It” is a slow(er) song, and sounds similar to THE HAUNTED. Probably also because producer Tue Madsen has worked with these guys (and HATESPHERE and many more). All in all, the result is alright. Things improve with the uptempo pounder “Standing On The Cliffs Of Madness”. This is also the case with “Fucked In The Search For Life”, which begins with a clean part before the power is activated. The contrast couldn’t be bigger. Yep, another fast song with lots of energy. And while we’re at it, “Disillusionized” also advances at a high speed with its Thrash/Hardcore mix. However, the band does slow down in the last part, to prevent a crash, I suppose, with “Dommedag”, a straight-forward rocker. Here the drums set in the song with a very nice beat, after which the rest of the band follows.  “The Knives Spit” also offers humpa-ish Hardcore/Thrash at first, later the flow is more regular. The sound of the guitars reminded me of GOREFEST’s “Soul Survivor” album. Still, this is not a song to sit still with. However, the chorus is annoying with the vocal line “Everybody hates everybody hates everybody …”.

Long story short: where “Until We Are Outnumbered” was too much of the same, too montonous, this has been rectified on “Facing The Imminent Prospect Of Death”, which offers more variety, but of course staying true to the mix of Hardcore, Thrash and Death (depending on the song). This is indeed a step forward and I can only congratulate the band with this. As mentioned earlier, if you’re into this style and bands like HATESPHERE, THE HAUNTED and so on, now is a better opportunity to add THE KANDIDATE to your collection.

Tracklist:

1. Death
2. Beyond The Mind, Sleep You’ll Find
3. One And Alone
4. Total War
5. Modvind
6. Let The Maggots Have It
7. Standing On The Cliffs Of Madness
8. Fucked In The Search For Life
9. Disillusionized
10. Dommedag
11. The Knives Spit

Line-up:
Jacob Bredahl – vocals
Allan Tvedebrink – guitars
KB Larsen – bass
Niels Peter – drums