Search - Blend :: Act One

A FOUNDATION STONE OF THE COMING ORIENTAL ROCK WAVE. The Dominion Post, Friday October 15 2004 BLEND Act One (EMI) GROWING up with the lingering effects of civil war on your doorstep can do s t r a n g e t h i n g s t o a t e e n a g e m i n d - e s p e c i a l l y w h e n y o u r b a c k y a r d i s somewhere in Beirut. ...Middle-Eastern violin to suddendly switching into overdrive, steering a path behind the likes of A Perfect Circle and early Rage Against The Machine. The album sounds like some prog-rock grunge opera with the opening Belong,an epic flight beginning like a merger between a Portishead and a Radiohead ballad complete with a piano interlude, before rising to a blistering climax. Thank you merges a slow flange guitar with Middle-Eastern instruments before erupting into the albums most pure metal roar before dying away again. Lyrically, they are exploring their place in the world while tracks like Inc. fire well-aimed potshots at big business. Act One is rock solid * * * * Lindsay Davis