Posted on: May 13, 2010 Posted by: Aaron_George Comments: 0

Indifference – Born To Be A War Machine / 2003 Self-Released / 5 Tracks / http://www.indifferencemusic.co.uk / Reviewed 07 July 2005

Indifference’s EP came out in 2003, but immediately it becomes obvious that the music is still vital and worthwhile. The time that this disc has been sitting on the shelf has really given Indifference the time to age well, like a fine well. What follows on “Born To Be A War Machine” is a hard-edged, almost metal-influenced brand of emo rock replete with the melodic versus screaming vocals. I must admit that I am personally stumped why Indifference named their second song, “Enemy MinE” off a pretty weak early-eighties sci-fi movie, but the track allows the band to show a side of them that starts to really repeat itself.

The screaming, cluttered guitar/vocal dynamic that is heavily used throughout the track really detracts from the smoothed-out vocals/chunky bass/searing-hot guitars that are just as commonplace. Indifference’s music is the perfect soundtrack to a hard day of working out; their reliance on normal time signatures while providing a tremendously punctual and catchy beat will ensure those reps go by with the greatest of ease. Still, this is not the same mind-dead rhythms that various rappers like to drill in their head (Eminem, anyone) but rather a carefully-constructed bit of emo-rock that will still connect with the most elite in the music circles. Indifference distinguishes themselves from the legions of emo-rockers (Hawthorne Heights, A Static Lullaby, Copeland) by incorporating a continually-shifting sound that oft-times incorporates a tremendous amount of pop-harmony (this is very obvious during “Passenger of Life”). “Other Day” divides Indifference’s focus two ways: first off, the pop-influenced all-out all-singing chorus and secondly, the metal/punk-rock instrumentation.

The band is talented enough to join together these differing sounds and blast into their final track, “Sometimes Kings”, which just does not have the feel necessary to end this EP. Where Indifference had the skill to join together different sounds previously, too many differing sounds predominate during the entirety of “Sometimes Kings”. This results in a very chaotic track in which a listener’s attention is divided four or five ways (drums, guitars and vocals being the most audible), and what happens is that a band that showed so much unity at the beginning looks toward their LP with very uncertain eyes. The band has more than enough talent to amaze and awe listeners with this LP, but my suggestion would be to figure out how the unity earlier enjoyed could be present throughout the entirety of a disc that doubles the amount of tracks on “Born To Be A War Machine”.

Top Track: Enemy Mine

Rating: 6.0/10

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