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Album Reviews

East West are loud, angry and far from captivating. These four guys are living proof that there are up and coming nü metal bands that haven't given up the fight, as long as the fight includes a shot at superstardom and seven figure record sales. Though they've had small brushes with widespread success, East West still has a slew of unconquered radio markets and untouched music video channels standing between them and the same sort of recognition that Disturbed, Cold et al have gained with a similar blend of metallic growling and sulky stumbling. Songs like "Seven" and "Brutally Wrong" may give the band just the boost they need, and the aching power ballads that bring up the album's rear beg to be Top 40 crossovers. Of course, this isn't to say that the music is challenging or very involved, but it has the potential to be liked by a great number of people; though two million record buyers can be wrong, it's sometimes easier to throw up your critical arms and sigh "to each his own". This is one of those times. I couldn't help but notice two curious things in the liner notes. First, one band member thanks Fugazi, Quicksand and Bad Religion for their influence, which is more than a bit odd. It's not that East West ought to sound like any of those bands, but they could at least have taken a page from their books in the taking chances department. It is, after all, possible to boldly go where no band has gone before as a heavy rock act -- even as a nü metal outfit, as Dredg and Deftones have shown us. It's a shame to see that such groundbreaking influences aren't coming across in the music. The second interesting tidbit is that East West is apparently a Christian act; each member gives a shout-out to their Lord. Floodgate is, after all, a Christian label with mainstream distribution. Of course, you'd never know it from East West's lyrics, which go through bouts of young white male anger and finally reach resolution in a nondescript "hope" -- hence the album's title. I'm not one to tell a band to beat the listener over the head with the Good Book every chance they get, but if they're claiming hope in Christ, as opposed to hope in themselves or hope in meditation or hope in tree spirits or whatever, it should come across with a little more flavor, a little more power than these other hopes -- at least if East West truly believes that what they believe is right and what non-Christians believe is wrong. You know, it's that whole "singing a new song" thing that the Psalmist and Bono (see "40") talk about. Instead, East West's spiritual hope comes up lifeless, making their "Christian" tag seem like more of an appeal to secular music-fearing youth groups than an actual inspiration.

~ Phillip Buchan

Hope in Anguish is the latest relese from the band that is East West. It has a darker feel than some of their previous releases and they have also gotten a little heavier. Musically this album is pretty decent. It is without a question a rock album and doesn't try to pull off any cross-genre attempts. Unfortunately, it feels like it could have used a little more work in post-production to make it stand out. The equalizing and distortion settings they used for the electric guitar make them sound more like a garage band than a international group. Maybe this is the feel they were going for though? There are a couple different styled songs on the cd, but all are guitar driven. The opening track Vacant is quite strong and heavy, whereas the fourth track titled Seven and The Final Say are more mellow and down tempo. Rounding out the variety are tracks like For Every Wish that could be classified as main-stream rock (stuff that would hear on the radio frequently). Lyrically, this album could be stronger. Most of the songs seem to be seeking for answers, rather than showing people the Truth. Some of the songs kind of remind me of Project 86 (both musically and lyrically). If you are looking for a heavish rock album this is something worth checking out. For fans of 12 Stones and Chevelle, this may be a solid purchase for you.