Children - Hard Times Hanging at the End of the World & Death Tribe

Remember to Stay Children

"Grown-ups never understand anything by themselves, and it is tiresome for children to be always and forever explaining things to them."

Antoine de Saint-Exupéry

"Let the little children come to me and do not hinder them, for to such belongs the kingdom of heaven."

Jesus Christ

 

Listen up, kids! This is some music you should listen to, at least those of you who can still remain children at heart (from time to time). Children offer us something truly different from what one might here in any metal scene these days. It is hard indeed to put into any particular genre. Who cares about style names though when a band is so good at rocking!

Children sound exactly like their name suggests, which is the main reason their single Death Tribe and debut Hard Times Hanging at the End of the World are so refreshing.

Now, what do I mean? I mean that this band does not seem to care what's going around them, whether anyone will "get" their music or how many copies of their CDs they will sell. That's what makes young bands and their debuts in general so great: their minds are not occupied by anything other than music at that time of their career; they just want to let people hear the fruits of their creativity. As Doc Godin said in his review: "the whole thing sounds like it's about to fall apart at any minute" but Children don't care - they keep playing and screaming their heads off: let everybody hear all the little flaws and inaccuracies! This is like eating an apple with a worm in it but no pesticide or wax touched its surface. Yes, give me some of that sun-filled, juicy fruit straight from the garden outside my window. 

Children's single and first full-length are the closest thing to the juvenile energy outburst of Metallica's Kill 'Em All. Yes, it does not have the maturity and grandeur of Master of Puppets, but that's the whole point: James Hetfield has never sounded as demented and, shall I say, matchless, like he did on Kill 'Em All thereafter. I don't know where Children will go with their next effort, but I just want to enjoy this unadulterated craziness coming straight from their hearts. OK, this review is getting long - time to describe the music... 

Hard Times... and Death Tribe have the spirit of thrash, the attitude of punk and the heart of stoner. This is riff-based music, and many songs are built upon a particular (drug-induced, intoxicating) guitar theme (check this out) that the song starts with (either with other instruments or not) and then builds and develops into other themes, an undeniably, it is the mighty guitar riff (remember Magnus?) that makes these two releases have unmistakably Children-nish character to them: by creating the aggression of thrash, the daredevilry of punk, and the psychedelia of stoner or, for that matter, the acoustic, melancholic beauty of the title track. Vocals and drumming amplify all these characteristics correspondingly, which makes Children's debut even more of a success.

Now, children, go out there, have courage to be honest, and share your hearts with the world! God Bless!

<3, K†ulu