Published on Oct 22, 2004
Within Y took me by surprise. Judging by the CD cover, I was
expecting Within Y to be a progressive metal band like Zero Hour or
Reading Zero — a band that would awe me with their collective
vision of how to make music that changed time signatures on a whim
or perhaps offered a deeper analysis of the world than, say, Papa
Roach or Linkin Park. Their CD cover, with a house on a skinny
piece of land, a mysterious house, a young girl blindfolded — all
features of what I think of when I think of “modern day progressive
metal band CD cover.”
And despite what I thought I was getting myself into is quickly
shattered. Begining with a scream Phil Anselmo (Pantera) would
like, Within Y are a death metal band, closer to the inspiration
musicality of Spiritual Eclipse or Detachment than the
aforementioned Zero Hour or Reading Zero.
I think that is what made Within Y a refreshing listen. Sure,
the lyrics are frequently screamed or exhumed with the clarity of a
mud cake, but the intensity is there. Drummer Thim Blom is fast,
pounding his drums into oblivion. Guitarists Nikke Almen and Mikael
Nordin show interesting songwriting skills, especially when the
band launches into the aggressive “Injection.” Vocalist Andreas
Solveström is extremely vicious when he sings, “Fall down to
gain perspective, to see the light / Severe, drained observations,
confidential world of lies / as this bitter sweet injection / view
the world through the self-destructive eye / as a weaker state of
mind, protected by pale reflections / depart this fragile human
life.” Maybe I wasn’t so far off with the Zero band comparisons?
Musically, at the 2:42 mark, the band shifts into a more
straight-forward groove that allows the guitar solo to be melodic
and interesting. It is not about playing super fast or a bunch of
notes in a single breath — in this song, it is about playing a
guitar melody.
Anotehr standout track is “Behold.” On top of an interesting
guitar riff, Solveström is on-target when he sings, “You want
me to ease your suffering/ Why can’t you gather your thoughts and/
Blame no one.” Gather your thoughts, gather your feelings and blame
no one else but yourself. In our society of “it’s their fault, not
mine, for <whatever>” it is refeshing to hear this
perspective. Don’t blame me or anyone else for your problems —
choice is yours so do what you can with it.
“Silently Leaving” continues the momentum of “Behold” when
Solveström sings, “This world of confusion suffocates our
greatest dreams/ Feeding the disease, silently leaving, this
behind, searching, the twoers, for the colours of the world feeding
the disease, silently leaving this behind.” Blom catches the
changes of the guitar riffs with precision, adding a color to the
music that is appealing. At the 2:24 mark, the band shifts into an
acoustic guitar melody played over Blom’s interesting drum
pattern.
Overall, I think Within Y is an excellent band. They are a death
metal band so there are characteristics of the genre: Blom plays a
lot of double bass. Almen and Nordin play fast riffs at times, and,
if I hadn’t been listening to death metal for the last few years,
Solveström would sound like a fool Instead, he sounds
aggressive and pulls the band’s vision of the world into a brutal
44:00 minute assault. I hope Within Y finds themselves on a
worldwide tour, opening for someone like Morbid Angel or another
reputable death metal tour where the audiences the band sees on a
nightly basis would be introduced to the band’s power. According to
the counter on
the official
site, just over 8500 visitors have discovered this band. Here’s
hoping you check them out.