BLINDSIDE – A Thought Crushed My Mind [Rerelease]

Holy smoke! When Blindside said that they have their roots in hardcore, they weren’t kidding. A Thought Crushed My Mind is Blindside’s second album, now seeing the light of the day for the second time as part of the celebration of the band’s ten year career, which also sees them gaining back the rights to their first two releases. Hands down, this one is their most ambitious and versatile release to date. It’s a shame that it has its roots buried so heavily in Hardcore, and that it most likely will be overlooked by the band’s more Metal and Rock-orientated audience. This one definitely requires a lot of listening to fully reveal its beauty.

Blindside has really let their imagination run wild on A Thought …”. How else could you explain adding violins to Hardcore? “As You Walk” even has a Jazz-style instrumental outro following the violin parts. Another new feature, probably there to give Christian a breather from all of that screaming, are the spoken parts, which can be found on several of the tracks. The songs still mainly stick to the familiar formula of the dynamics changing from fast to slow and vice versa. The oddest addition is the album ending with a four minute electronic beat feast, which would be more at home on a Daft Punk release than here.

What first hits you is the leap in confidence the band has taken from their first self-titled release, and their willingness to try different things and add a lot of tiny details to the songs. On this one, the scale weighs down on the heavier side, and the melodic parts are mostly seen as the frosting on the cake, and not the other way around, like later day Blindside fans are more used to with recent releases. Only “Silverspeak” and “Nora,” a song sung entirely in their native tongue, have obvious traces of the later day Blindside sound. The most shocking difference is the screaming. If it weren’t for the melodic parts, you’d never guess that it’s Christian doing the singing, or in this case, the screaming. One listen to the song “Act” and you’ll get the picture.

Just like on the first Blindside re-release, you also get 4 extra tracks with this one. There is a foreword from the singer Christian on the inner sleeve, stating that these tracks are part of the demo taped in their rehearsals when they were out of a deal and wondering which direction to take musically. The extra tracks show the band in a more relaxed mood, flirting with Rock and Punk, and going towards the sound Blindside is more known for these days.

A word of warning for the current Blindside fans — you need to have a stomach for Hardcore and screamed vocals to get into this one. The extras are something an average Blindside fan will definitely enjoy, though. All in all, this one certainly does not apply for the “difficult second album” category, since it beats the first Blindside release to oblivion. No way anyone saw this one coming, and after this, it’s hard to see from where their third album came. Just hope that the future of Blindside sees them continue with the element of surprise that the sequence of their first three releases show them taking.