Review: Comeback Kid - Heavy Steps

Label: Nuclear Blast Records

I never ever thought I'd post anything about COMEBACK KID. They are the kind of band I never gave a fuck about. I care as less, that I wouldn't even bother to shit on them for any of their records. Yeah, I know their debut album and thought it was okay, but nothing more. I'm pretty sure I'd dig it today, if I would give it another chance. The two sophomore albums got like one spin each from me and that's it for my connection to this band for the 17 years that have passed...

...but for whatever reason I decided to give their 7th album a chance. I went in with a mindset like "I'll listen to the first two songs, get my approval that they'll be boring forever and skip it". And... nah... I kept on going. And they nearly convinced me! The fact that I personally have no feelings for this band and don't know most of their songs, probably helped me enjoying "Heavy Steps". I understand why fans of their early records will probably be disappointed by this new one, cause they definitely moved away from the Youth-Crew-revival-sound of the early to mid-2000s.

Their new, heavy rockin' Hardcore-sound reminds me of something like GALLOWS' "selftitled", THE GHOST OF A THOUSAND or even EVERGREEN TERRACE. They throw in some more melody though, as well as bits of mosh and metallic guitars. The opener and title track is awesome in every way and gets down as the highlight of "Heavy Steps". This song really is the essence of the whole album and incorporates everything cool about their style. It's downward from there on, yet they can keep the pace running for quite some time. "No easy Way out" features Death-Metal-esque riffing, something I didn't expect from them. It's a nice move and I could've needed a bit more of this mentality. Their cooperation with the traditional Metal-label Nuclear Blast definitely makes sense now!

The interesting thing about this record is the blend of fast, melodic Hardcore and pure Metal-elements. This feels like a throwback to EVERGREEN TERRACE's "Wolfbiker"-phase, and I really did enjoy that record. The problem with "Heavy Steps" is, that it's not quite as bold. At a certain point of the album the songs blend together big time, and COMEBACK KID can't bring anything new to the table. I'd love if they would've pushed the envelope on this, getting sassy with their new style, incorporating some near-cheesy, ear-flattering chorusses, over-the-top-breakdowns, sick-ass-growling or more contrasting vocal-styles in general. But, maybe next time?! For what it is, "Heavy Steps" is still a pretty solid album and a nice suprise to me. This is Metalcore for everyone hating Metalcore...

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