The curse of “nothing new here, move along” hasn't been lifted at all
Syracuse (New York, U.S.A.) act Freya (whose name means "lady" in Old Norse, and was the goddess of love, beauty, sex, and attraction, and was also a goddess of war, death, magic, prophecies and wealth) formed in 2003 out of the ashes of Earth Crisis. Vocalist Karl Buechner, guitarists Bulldog and Erick Edwards, drummer Tony and bassist Ethan got things rolling quickly with the band's debut effort, As The Light Drains, being released that very same year. After a split release with Hoods, they've finally returned with their sophomore effort Lift The Curse.
Threads Of Life doesn't take long before it sees Freya to settling into a safe and secure rhythm of 'heard it all before' riffs and breakdowns. The tempo changes are predictable, the guitar tone annoying and the material stock standard metallic hardcore through and through. Suffer Not One offers nothing to dispel these comments, and it's only the chorus of Only The Martyrs that manages to show off something interesting, all be it a simple and catchy chord progression.
But the damage is truly done. It doesn't matter if you're listening to Down To The Last, Lift The Curse, the uninspiring riffs of Alleviate, Through The Eyes Of The Angel Of Death or Born In Blood, there really is nothing on offer here that hasn't been done a thousand times before by every other band of this ilk. Even the variety offered with the clean vocals in Lilith are just flat out terrible and out of place. Just before you think it couldn't get any worse, they bust out a cover of Black Sabbath's War Pigs. Whilst it is musically sound, the vocals are dull and lifeless. In fact, those words could just about sum up this entire release.
Freya's Lift The Curse is truly woeful. It's as generic and forgettable as it gets from start to finish. This one will see them placed safely in the middle of the pack if not sliding towards the back end. Maybe check this out if metallic hardcore is the corner stone of your musical diet. Otherwise, don't feel bad by skipping this one in your favourite record store.
(Victory Records/Stomp Distribution)
