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Nasum: Shift
12/09/07 || The Duff
“Shift” is the epitome of Nasum’s sound, and without a doubt their finest hour. Everything they’ve worked on has been a build up to this album, definitely the most perfect status they’ve ever acquired on disc. Although “Helvete” comprises the better tracks, “Shift” just shows a band so very much more comfortable in its abilities, as the album glides from opener to closer (twenty-four track total) effortlessly (with the exception of “Wrath”). What’s more, this here has the perfect production; Mieszko’s work on getting every instrument balanced just right could only have been conducted at the hands of a true visionary.
Not much has changed since the band’s “Human 2.0” days, except the increase in intensity witnessed on “Helvete” is kept intact – the band has simply refined and improved with every release, and reaching what I believe to be its peak. The high wails and low-end grunts delivered by Mieszko and Anders respectively liven up the onslaught as usual (Mieszko sounds so fucken evil when singing in his native Swedish; not entirely sure if Anders did actually provide the more guttural vocals this time around – could’ve been the bassist), the drumming of the latter is of the highest standard, and the riffs just as deadly and groove-infected as they’ve ever been.
The newest members (making Nasum a four-piece for the first time in their career) contribute nicely to the songwriting, which isn’t the most common of situations to come across; usually they’re left sitting in solitude on the bench twiddling their thumbs come studio-time, but Urban and Jon have written material that blends in ever so nicely with what the old-time members have put forth on the table.
Nasum definitely went out on the brightest possible note with “Shift”, and I’m endlessly kicking myself in the ass for missing out on the London gig in support of the album (didn’t know too much about Nasum at the time, but figured it was possibly a show worth traveling to); not as essential as either “Helvete” or “Human 2.0”, “Shift” is still probably the best the band has to offer, as it is with this album that Nasum attained absolute perfection – one mark deducted for the awesome but slightly misplaced track “Wrath”.
9 out of 10.
- Information
- Released: 2004
- Label: Burning Heart
- Website: www.nasum.com
- Band
- Mieszko Talarczyk: vocals, guitars
- Urban Skytt: guitars
- Jon Lindqvist: bass
- Anders Jakobson: drums
- Tracklist
- 01. Particles
- 02. The Engine of Death
- 03. Twinkle, Twinkle Little Scar
- 04. No Paradise for the Damned
- 05. Wrath
- 06. Fear is Your Weapon
- 07. The Deepest Hole
- 08. High on Hate
- 09. Pathetic
- 10. Circle of Defeat
- 11. Like Cattle
- 12. Ros
- 13. The Smallest Man
- 14. Cornered
- 15. Strife
- 16. The Clash
- 17. Hets
- 18. Closer to the End
- 19. Fury
- 20. Fight Terror With Terror
- 21. Ett Inflammerat Sår
- 22. Deleted Scenes
- 23. Creature
- 24. Darkness Falls
