Bedtime Prayers

Blinded Colony is shockingly bad at times, and in hindsight proves just how desperate many of us were, grasping at straws in a sub-genre crippled by a number of big name bands going to shit due to the peaking popularity of metalcore during the period. These guys were repeatedly compared to In Flames, during a time when Come Clarity was met with mostly negative press (we had no idea how much worse In Flames would get, mind). Bedtime Prayers is the band's second album before another name change was prompted due to lack of direction, et al. The band was picked up along with Skyfire by the indie imprint Pivotal Rockordings, but unlike Skyfire these guys cannot coast on their musicianship in any sense.

If you can believe it, Bedtime Prayers is as bad as Overcome-era All That Remains, or even fucking Atreyu. The clean vocalist exhibits that core whine, soaked in angst and patently gonad-free. Riffs lull you into a false sense of security with their burly production values and cavernous palm-mutes, only to deliver the genre equivalent of plain white bread. Blinded Colony are melodic, yes, and they are theoretically influenced by death metal, but no more than other entry-level gothenthrash exports. Basically, the riffs are post-At the Gates swill that was totally played out even a decade ago when this was released. At their best, Blinded Colony operate as a poverty Disarmonia Mundi, or perhaps Blood Stain Child, although the synths are decidedly more toned down than either. The surgical snappiness of the riffs actually feels enervating on "Once Bitten Twice Shy," but even the best material on Bedtime Prayers is dogged by the clean vocals; it is just a question of how often they appear. Thankfully, "Once Bitten Twice Shy" works in spite of the band's critical missteps.

I usually touch on the keyboards at this point in my reviews, but there really isn't much to discuss here. While nobody is directly credited for the performance, it sounds like your typical programmed pseudo-trance effects and other industrial distractions that are now more popular with Russian and Japanese bands. Blinded Colony really feel the need to press the clean vocals, even of the chorus melodies sound slapped together as all get out, like on the atrocious "Need." Other slogs include the awkward "In Here" and the requisite "raise your angsty fist" anthem in "Revelation, Now!" The thicker punch of the guitars and serviceable performance behind the kit by Staffan Franzén makes the better songs passable, but are merely like adding candy sprinkles to a steaming load of diamhea.

Fuck this band. They are still slaving away under a new name, now relegated to has beens due to lack of output. As far as Bedtime Prayers, it is one of those albums that might serve as a functional gateway to better, more deserving melodeath bands, but on its own it feels like an extremely dated time capsule from a period where everybody was experimenting with ephemeral core inclinations in an attempt to inveigle the weekend warrior fringe crowd. Albums like this make me feel both old and especially jaded. The latter is one hell of an accomplishment.

Definitely not a write off as a band Blinded Colony are a produce Sweden should definitely be proud of, they appear to fit into the more recent Gothenburg scene more and more on every listen, especially as In Flames appear to be dragging the genre further and further away from the scene of 20 years ago.

The album features some rather generic metalcore/melodeath in terms of lyrics and vocal style, with rather bland guitar work and drumming - the only reason they scored so highly is that if you listen to BC after In Flames' Come Clarity, you could be forgiven for wanting this to be their next release, as ASOP was rather poor workmanship from them.

Once Bitten, Twice Shy is by far the best single off this album, with 21st Century Holocaust and Bedtime Prayers aren't too bad either, all 3 are pretty respectable, with very catchy choruses on Once Bitten, ensuring a nice change in material over the space of the 36 minutes spent listening to this album. Whilst eh musical aspect to this aren't anything special, they aren't poor, with very few soloes throughout making this a good record for those who're sick of listening to minute long soloes which seem to kill the song as seen in several bands who share the same genre, including Children of Bodom and possibly Arch Enemy at a stretch.

Very strong style similarities to the older In Flames and Dark Tranquillity, with a link to heavier bands, but the choruses appear to of held this band from bigger and better things, as some of them have killed the theme of the song off, transferring from chugging guitars to an almost pop-like chorus.
Under the new name, The Blinded, they appear to have lost all sight of Bedtime Prayer's ground work and have apparently gone down the same route of most modern melodeath bands such as Sonic Syndicate and Scar Symmetry by "selling out" in appealing to a wider audience.

Generally a good listen if you're a fan of the Gothenburg scene, and are looking for a 1 off record from a metalcore/melodeath band, but that's about it; nothing new or special.

I came across this band, and the album, while searching for some 'melodic death metal' earlier last year. I was getting use to the sound of old "In Flames" and "Dark Tranquility". I also heard, though various metalheads and "experts", that the general feel for melodeath is that it's gone downhill, way down hill into the mediocrity pit, from its beginnings. Sadly, this album is a full speed run down that hill.

Now, before continuing, I should stress this album isn't atrocious. If it was, I would have given it below 30%. However, it's extremely dull and uninspiring. In fact, it sounds all too much like metalcore then anything resembling melodic death (hence the title). I'll use the first track as an example. The song starts off with some guitar riffs, not terribly low and distorted, and then enters the vocalist. If I had to describe his voice, he's definitely in line with both KSE singers; vocals are done in a medium tone and 'screamed' rather then growled. He also does some clean vocals, during the chorus, which sound like he's imitating a pop-punk vocalist from a band like Blink 182 (at least that's the one comparison I can think of right now).

Following the verse-chorus-verse structure we come to the end of the second chorus. Now, this would be the time you might hope to fine an interesting instrumental section, perhaps with a solo, or some melodic passage. Hey, maybe they'll even go crazy and add some acoustic guitar or something! Uh....nope. Sorry. Instead, you'll get a breakdown, which is just a slower riff then what was being played during the songs beginning. Repeat the riff and add some vocals for "diversity". That's about it. This process repeats for the albums length.

Now, is this bad? Not really. I'd give this album a listen every once in a while, mainly focusing on the first four tracks. It could be better, and it certainly doesn't remind me of melodic death, even new stuff like "Mors Principium Est". I sometimes I find myself thinking, "How is this in the same metal genre as an album like "The Gallery"? It just doesn't make sense.”

I'd recommend it to anyone who likes metalcore, and possibly new "In Flames", That’s about it.

What can be said about Karlshamn, Sweden's own Blinded Colony. One thing is for certain and that is they set the stage here with their sophomore album, Bedtime Prayers. After the departure of former vocalist Niklas Svensson, the band quickly climbed back into the fray with the addition of singer Johan Schuster. The differences between this album and their last is the almost night and day between the delivery and sound. While "Divine" was much more of an "Iron Maiden" esque type singing with the growls and grunts, this album is just straight forward heavy and kicks you in the teeth.

The album itself begins quickly with the burning opener, "My Halo." New lead singer Johan Schuster brings a much needed ferocity to this band that was lacking on their previous effort and he definitely shines on this record. The album keeps moving along with the title track kicking it up even more. Dealing with social issues and religious issues with the song, it then turns over to "Once Bitten, Twice Shy." Now, this song I honestly thought was a cover of that 80's song, but ...I was very surprised with it. It wasn't the cover, it was a whole different song and a gem at that. With it's rapid fired melody to growl these guys seem to have their sound down and it's amazing. People often compare them to the likes of other Swedish acts in the same genre, but these kids stand on their own echelon, they have their very own plateau to look down from with this album. The songs themselves move along at a very heavy and determined pace. Although the album only clocks in at a minimal 35:44, it is still worth every penny. I can hardly describe this band or record in words really, it is hard and complex as the sound alone is not of the normal spectrum of what one would attribute to melodic death metal, but seems to pull from several genres, including thrash metal and metalcore among others and makes light of several anti-religious stances, which are rarely seen in the genre. This album will grab you by the balls and inject into you that much needed aggression. With it's scorching pace this album keeps it in fifth gear for the entire album. The only let down to me in the album would be the song, "21st Century Holocaust," as it just seems bland and doesn't fit on the record at all. They should have gone back to their 2005 demo and taken the song "Swallow and Sleep" from it for this effort instead, atleast in my opinion.

With it's grunts, growls and melodies this album has everything any fan of melodic death metal could want. Blinded Colony definitely deliver with this album, as it is a diamond in the rough of today's 30 death metal albums per week release schedule it seems. Johan Schuster seems to almost rejuvinate this whole band, tear down the Iron Maiden esque feel to the group and bring it back with more voracity and a new sound as well. I must say that this one truly does hide behind all the other useless discs of the year, but alone it stands as one of my albums of 2007.

OK so there are a lot of clones running around trying their best to sound like In Flames and Soilwork. Wait, if they were clones then I guess they would sound exactly like one or the other. I mean, they are clones after all. So let me rephrase that. On second thought, I'm not going to because you knew what I was trying to say anyways. You're so clever!

Now, my inspired reader, what does that have to do with Blinded Colony? Well they are one of the many bandwagon hoppers that have popped up on the scene as of late. Don't let anyone tell you anything different, these dudes are trying their hardest to ride the coattails of In Flames to mediocrity and somewhat z-list style fame. However, they aren't quite as horrible as some of the other copycats.

See they have something of a harder edge akin to Scar Symmetry. These guys don't sound like their just trying to crank out another album in hopes of getting on MTV2 again. No they actually have some spirit in them and you can tell. The music is, at times, inspired. If nothing else it is catchy as hell.

Holy shit does the singer sound a lot like Anders though. Like wow, this is where that clone shit comes back full-circle. The only time he doesn't sound like Anders is when he does clean vocals. THANK GOD. Seriously this is such a compliment. Anders sounds like a cool breeze whistling through my bleached asshole hair. Why is it bleached? It's harder to see and you know I'm way too lazy to shave that. Plus can you imagine cutting your asshole while shaving, or worse yet, getting an ingrown asshole hair that pops and oozes pus all into your shit-stained and blood-filled anus. What's with all the blood dude? Stop holding your shit in. It's really bad for you.

By the way, I purposely left out exactly who Anders is because anyone that's reading this that knows metal should know this and anyone else that's not reading this and doesn't know metal then you don't have a problem since you're not reading this. You are though, and I appreciate that.

What else does that leave for me to describe? I mean really I don't see why people expect me to explain every nuance of every note struck because god damn it just listen to it yourself. It's heavy! Need more detail? OK! If the music were made into some kind of solid thing with a rope tied to it and the other end tied to your balls (if you're female then you shouldn't be reading this because women aren't allowed to listen to metal) then your balls would slowly compress together and explode. Is that possible? I hope so or else that comparison is faulty.

So I can summarize this quite easily. If you like newer In Flames or Soilwork then you'll probably like this. If not then not.

Blinded Colony is relatively new in the mainstream metal world. It’s obvious (and I think overall beneficial for the band) that Bedtime Prayers is still very much influenced by their inspirations. I say this is beneficial because I think it lets the band to really get to know the world before a lot of expectations are put on them to be “truly” unique. Let’s them search and find their own sound before their fans in mass expect certain things.

So what does Blinded Colony sound like? Bedtime Prayers sounds so much like In Flames that the album itself feels like an In Flames B-side record. It’s not bad – these guys do have a lot of talent especially in the performance that is heard on Bedtime Prayers. These guys play good melodic death metal. They sound pretty good. They sound almost exactly like In Flames though – so there is always that feeling of “been there, done that” when listening to Bedtime Prayers.

Blinded Colony has some decent chops when it comes to guitar work. The riffing is heavy and gives the songs and album great structure. The riffs could have been varied a little more in my opinion – I found myself feeling the songs felt all the same towards the end. The leads from the guitars aren’t anything special, I felt like they were pushed back from the riff and not an equal. This is mostly due, I think, because the melody is mostly taken care of by the keyboards. Solos are pretty general; I wasn’t blown away by any of them, but for the most part they feel heartfelt even if the writing isn’t great.

The keyboards are my biggest problem with Bedtime Prayers. The keys vary in their sound a little bit and they give the music a decent amount of melody that the guitars lack in the music. The sound of the keyboards though doesn’t sound as modern as the rest of the music. The keyboards sound more similar to synthesizers than keyboards (especially on some songs with a lot of keyboard work). I cringed at times when the keyboards blasted in.

Vocally, Blinded Colony’s singer (Johan Schuster) is the most varied element on Bedtime Prayers. He gives the listener a variety of sounds; ranging from barking parts (edging towards metalcore) to singing to eerie spoken parts. He has some interesting parts that I really enjoyed and some of the parts that felt like metalcore to which I felt distraught.

Overall, Bedtime Prayers is good. The music is well played, all the members have talent. I disagree with some of the production choices and I don’t think the writing is too impressive (which is the biggest difference between Blinded Colony and their inspiration In Flames). I felt as though I had already heard this album before – but better. It’s a good album for fans of melodic death metal – but not for new comers to the sub genre. These guys are talented and still working on their own sound. So when their next album is released I hope that they have found their niche and are able to present it well.

Songs to check out: My Halo, Revalation Now!, 21st Century Holocaust.