1914: The Blind Leading the Blind (2018)

Just last week I covered an EP from 1914 during which I lamented that it was not a great representation of the band's sound.  Well, here is 1914's second full-length album that was released last year.  And so this then, is an accurate representation of what 1914 sounds like.  And it is brutal.

Most of the songs on this album are morosely slow with grinding, gargantuan riffs.  The effect is that of a heavily-armored tank slowly creeping across the battlefield.  And to drive that point home, several moments feature samples of just that.  As a result of the songs being so slow and the riffs so heavy, the entire album is definitely a downer.  That fits in well with the lyrical themes though.  It just works for 1914.

There are occasionally moments of light, such as an almost melodic lead during "High Wood.  75 Acres of Hell".  The band also picks up the pace occasionally, such as during the rollicking cover of The Exploited's "Beat the Bastards".  They do put their own spin on it, but it is faster-paced than most of the rest of the songs.

1914 has an obsession with World War I.  Every song by the band deals with the extremely deadly war.  Tanks, trench warfare, mustard gas are all given their due.  The album starts off with what might actually be a recruitment song from the time period.  It also features samples from the movie All Quiet on the Western Front, including a moment in which Ernest Borgnine (who was poorly cast in this) espouses the virtue of using a shovel to decapitate an enemy in lieu of a bayonet.

Other bands have done the World War I theme.  The first band to come to mind is God Dethroned who released the soul-shattering Passiondale.  That album featured the previous best metal song about WWI in "No Survivors" which included a spine-tingling guest vocal performance by Marco Velde.  But no other band quite captures the hopelessness and dismay of the war quite like 1914.

This album was in a lot of peoples' top albums of 2018 lists.  It was due to that that I wanted to check it out, and I am glad I did.  This is a terrific album, though I think one would probably have to be in the mood for it.  It is definitely a dark album, moreso by the fact that everything 1914 sings about really happened.  I have a hard time watching war movies based on real events (Black Hawk Down is particularly rough), and this album hits that same nerve.