TENSIDE something rang a bell in my head. Had I heard of them on a streaming service before? Or had I seen the band live? After all, they have been on the road for over 15 years, including tours in Europe and Asia! And as soon as I read about the headliners they have toured with, such as KILLSWITCH ENGAGE and AS I LAY DYING, it all comes back to me: TENSIDE was the opening act for TRIVIUM five years ago! It all comes full circle, even though I no longer remember how well TENSIDE performed on the Herford stage...
Besides club concerts, the Munich band is also at home on major festivals like WACKEN, SUMMER BREEZE, and WITH FULL FORCE.
With "Come alive Dying," the four guys are now releasing their 8th album, and well-known producers have had a hand in it as well. For example, there’s Joseph McQueen, who mixed for AS I LAY DYING and BURY TOMORROW, or Ted Jensen, who mastered for KORN and BRING ME THE HORIZON. Based on these bands, the reader will recognize that TENSIDE plays in the Metalcore league and in the upper half of the table. However, they also lean towards Thrash, Industrial, and Mu Metal; the boundaries are often fluid.
It’s no wonder that "Come Alive Dying" comes out of the speakers with the same-named title track sounding incredibly powerful. Instrumentally, it’s a mix of high-voltage energy and desperate minor-key melancholy. Along with the perfect blend of shouted and clean vocals, it’s a blast!
It’s impossible to highlight a single song on "Come Alive Dying" since all 12 (!) tracks are simply perfect. There’s no filler or B-side track! So I can’t single out any song; they all have their charm...
The title track, for instance, is an anthem to both death and life. The second song, "Shadow To Shine," deals with transformation, something everyone has surely experienced at some point. In "Pitch & Gold," indifference is confronted. "Darkness To Blight" and "Impending Doom" follow, delving deep into thought areas, especially when you absorb the album cover within.
This perfection follows 7 times; it’s impossible to pick out a single song since they are all just top-notch. Each song takes TENSIDE about 4 minutes to express their view on the doomsday clock (and it’s long past 5 to 12). Apocalypse and creative rebirth until the last track on the album, "Vengeance," which ends with the search for redemption.
Conclusion: Mandatory purchase! 48 minutes of the most modern metal sound, sometimes dark, sometimes brutal, sometimes emotional, sometimes hitting you in the face, but always in tune with the times and simply perfect.
