Review from Sonic Dice (UK)

Rating: 5/6

Switch Opens are a Stockholm based 4-piece and were actually named Fingerspitzengefühl before 2006. I am glad they changed it.

This, their self-titled album, immediately gets my attention. Not only does the intro have what I think is an echoplex effect which starts off with the faintest hint of feedback, looping around before trailing off into the atmosphere, but the bass and drums thunderclap into an aggressive Motorhead-style verse. I thought: yep, this could be a pretty straight-up crusty and fuzzy rockin’ band. And they are, but Switch Opens have created an album with an incredible amount of depth and dexterity around the core of driving doom rock.

The first track Express Death continues with the same driving force, whilst soaring phaser fx guitars glide over the top. The vocals complement the melodic playing before a change of direction in the track. Screams, shouts, off-kilter drums and strong Queens Of The Stone Age-sounding riffs dominate the rest of the track. It’s a lengthy track at a tad over 7 minutes long, but the majority of the tracks are over 5 minutes. Jesper Skarin’s vocals hiss and snarl just as much as the bass fizzes through the album. There is an authoritative air about the delivery of the tracks and one of a great deal of intent and force, in the same way each of the personalities of Mastodon manage to push their own individual styles in their music. No instruments hide in the background looking sheepish; you can hear the multiple guitars clearly in a way they are meant to be heard. For instance, on Paper Walls and He Dives Down there are moments of acoustic playing, but they are never hidden; there is even enough space left in the mix for the odd solo as well.

The forceful nature of the album continues with Terra Incognita, a doomy/psychedelic album with a real nod towards Neurosis. There are heaps of sustain on the bass and, at times, the guitar-playing suggests to me what Kim Thayil would have sounded like if Soundgarden had been a bit darker. Super Globe Of Pain slows things down even further. In fact, the last few tracks sink deep into a sludgy doom fest with a bass-heavy production, like bands such as Bongzilla, Electric Wizard and End Of Level Boss, but without containing too much of an Iommi influence. After listening to the first track I would not have guessed I would end up here, and that is a very good thing.

- Rich E.

For Fans Of: Mastodon, Bongzilla, High On Fire

Sonic Dice