Metalcore from Germany was the banner on the advertisement for
Waterdown’s “The Files You Have on Me” and I must admit, I was intrigued. With
just about every hardcore/metalcore band I owned from Killswitch Engage to As I
Lay Dying to Shadows Fall, I thought a little international exposure would be interesting.
“The Files You Have on Me” is a solid metalcore album that, although you wouldn’t
be able to tell was from Germany, easy holds up against the mightiest American
acts at the time.
The album opens with “Bulletproof”. You’re greeted with a strange
electronic sound before suddenly the drums come crashing in and the first of
many catchy riffs takes over. The song has a progressive feel to it as it
builds into the clean chorus. Remember this is mid 00’s metalcore; solid riffs,
harsh vocals with the spotlight put on clean singing. Marcel Bischoff (who is
assisted by Ingo Knollmann) has a very nice blend of the harsh/clean vocals which
you’’ hear on various tracks, but I feel his best would be “A Fortress” and “Transient”.
There seem to be a lot of emotion put into those songs and it can be heard
within the vocals.
As I said, the guitar work is consistently played well
throughout the album, creating plenty of memorable riffs and rhythms to help
create an overall fierce yet comforting sound. The drumming is also solid,
albeit, vanilla in flavor. They provide the necessary sound required to help
create a nice harmony and explode with noise with called for, but that’s about
it. Par for the course is probably the best way to describe them.
“The Files You Have on Me”, in my opinion, easily fit the
bill of the sound that was dominating the music of that era. Compared to the US
powers that be, Waterdown could easily hold their own. If you’re a fan of 36
Crazyfists, Killswitch Engage or All Out Remains, I really don’t see how you wouldn’t
love this album.
Highlights: “Bulletproof” “A Fortress” “Xerox” “Transient”
Rating: 4
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