Beginning Is The End – No Direction

Beginning Is The End – No Direction / 2004 B.I.T.E. Music / 11 Tracks / http://www.bitemusic.com / [email protected] / Reviewed 13 February 2005

B.I.T.E.’s vocalist Adam sounds as if eir does not have English as a native language. This is not to say that ey screws up verbs and tenses, but rather the accents on some of the syllables on “No Direction” are a little odd compared to most American English speakers. The recording on “No Direction is a little rough as well, favoring a gritty/high end feel that gives much greater attention to the guitar riffs than the bass and drums. B.I.T.E.’s “Follow” shows a comfort-level much higher than many punk bands in the R.E.M.m-esque stanzas on the track. Crafting a grooving melody that will insinuate itself into any listener’s head at the first listen, “Follow” shows an intelligent to the band that can’t be found in bands that have been around as long as B.I.T.E. has been. The only problem during “Follow” comes in the anemic echo-affect the occurs during the chorus – at the utterance of “Follow”, what can only be dscribed as a bored mall security guard that B.I.T.E. got to say “Follow” chimes in. “Father: Son” continues the high quality of guitar lines that B.I.T.E. is increasingly known, as well as the Shannon Hoon-like vocals of Adam. “Father: Son” intelligently uses a violin to draw attention and emotional investment to their track, as well as diminish any though that they are another mediocre band bent on conformity-laden success.

“About Tomorrow” is another shift in genres, this time moving B.I.T.E. into a Fear Factory/emo hybrid that is strengthed by simplistic but effective guitar lines. “About Tomorrow” has a Rise Against feel to it that will show the With each subsequent track, the strongest appeal of B.I.T.E. comes to light: their ability to uncannily wear their influences on their sleeve, and to incorporate a differing set of these influences into every song. “I” has a Rage Against The Machine sound, while “Somewhere” uses the same vocals as Serj from S.O.A.D. The tracks are solid, no doubt about that but the problem with “Ni Direction” is the same as what Pvrenchymv suffers with: many times, the tracks do not have enough differing material to float the track (even in the same of "Somewhere", which is only a smidgen over three minutes. If B.I.T.E. wishes to succeed, their best bet would be to vary their instrumental fare. The tracks are all impressive and Roman and Dean’s two-guitar attack awe-inspiring, but the same guitar line played perfectly thirteen times is still going to lose some of its luster.

Top Tracks: Follow, Father, Son

Rating: 5.9/10