Review from Ultimate Metal (Canada)

Really fuzzy metal is on offer that raises a pulse. It has enough to groove to carry out its intentions and make your head spin. The song “Paper Walls” features a really cool build up that gradually increases in intensity in a really cool fashion. There’s a difficult to define quality that overwhelms this band and makes them that much more interesting to appreciate. The groovy nature of the work almost gives it a doom-like vibe, though I wouldn’t place it directly into that genre. Also to be found are some elements that liken them to stoner bands like Kyuss quite effectively, although I’m not sure if I’d put Switch Opens at quite the same level as them.

There are enough distortion laden soundscapes to make one’s head spin and I mean this in a positive fashion. The sound this band portrays is quite solid in its delivery. The difficulty to pin down their traits makes Switch Opens an interesting outfit that has a one of a kind approach to show to the world. They maintain their musical performances at a consistent rate and show the ability to pull everything together. A lower point for the work is that the vocals don’t sound as smooth and appropriate as they could although they match with the music reasonably well. However, the acoustic moments that are interspersed within work great and I wish there were even more to be found.

Overall, Switch Opens is dense and likeable and I hope there’s much more to come from the outfit in the future. The groove-laden nature of the work elevates it into a higher territory and makes it worthy of multiple listens and great appreciation on the part of the listener.

- Adam McAuley

Ultimate Metal

Review from Zware Metalen (Holland)

Rating: 84/100

De naam Switch Opens zegt weinig mensen iets denk ik, hoewel sommigen de link zullen leggen met het gelijknamige nummer van Soundgarden. Als ik zeg dat deze Zweedse band het vervolg is op Fingerspitzengefühl, dat al twee albums uitbracht, dan zal er ook maar bij weinig mensen een lichtje opgaan. Logische naamwissel als je het mij vraagt, want ook al is het een internationaal gebruikt Duits woord, het bekt natuurlijk voor geen meter. Switch Opens maakt stoner, maar dan anders.

Want nee, dit is niet je huis-, tuin- en keukenstoner! De invloeden van Kyuss en aanverwanten zijn duidelijk aanwezig, toch doet de band als geheel totaal anders aan. Er wordt gebruik gemaakt van psychedelica, de nummers zijn vrij lang van opbouw, plus de invloeden van onder andere Mastodon en Tool komen al snel naar de oppervlakte, maar ook van wat loggere acts als Crowbar en Krux kun je de nodige knipogen verwachten. In het openingsnummer Express Death zit zelfs een stevige postpunk-feel, maar dan met een vet, bassige ondertoon. De bassist domineert het hele album trouwens met zijn ronkende, stuwende partijen, waardoor de riffs lekker massief je speakers uitrollen. Nóg een pluspunt is zanger Jesper Skarin, die zich met zijn veelzijdige stem knap aanpast aan de muziek.

Aan de ene kant rockt dit "debuutalbum" als een tiet, aan de andere kant word je dus meerdere kanten op geslingerd. Nadeel in mijn ogen is dat de nummers af en toe wel wat bondiger hadden gemogen. Niet van je "don't bore us, get to the chorus", maar de vier heren slaan af en toe wel een klein beetje door in interessantdoenerij, waardoor de aandacht soms verslapt. Toch is dit een van de weinige kanttekeningen bij een ijzersterke, uiterst professionele en avontuurlijke plaat, die na meerdere luisterbeurten maar blijft groeien. Ze zijn ook niet voor niks ooit meegevraagd door Neurosis om als support act te fungeren. Goeie band!

- Robert de Leeuw

Zware Metalen.com

P3 Rock Listener's Poll

1. Mastodon - Crack The Skye
2. Alice In Chains - Black Gives Way To Blue
3. Thåström - Kärlek är för dom
4. Candlemass - Death Magic Doom
5. Porcupine Tree - The Incident
6. Lamb Of God - Wrath
7. Slayer - World Painted Blood
8. Behemoth - Evangelion
9. Them Crooked Vultures - Them Crooked Vultures
10. Hardcore Superstar - Beg For It
11. Switch Opens - Switch Opens
12. Scar Symmetry - Dark Matter Dimensions
13. Katatonia - Night Is The New Day
14. Wolfmother - Cosmic Egg
15. Devil's Blood - The Time Of No Time Evermore

P3 Rock

Interview with Micke at Metal Team UK

Two albums, no recognition and with a name change later the band that was Fingerspitzengefühl have managed to capture the ears of critics and music fans across Europe with their latest album as Switch Opens. As you can guess it hasn't been an easy slog. The progressive sound of the band along with a head spinning moniker may have instantly put off the more casual listener. But having been championed in part by Neurosis and putting out one of the better releases of 2009, the band have found finally their feet with recognition and an award nomination in their native Sweden with a view to taking the band Europewide. I caught up with guitarist Mikael Tuominen, to ask a few him a few questions.

Read the interview at Metal Team UK.

Winners of P3 Guld!

We actually won P3 Guld in the rock/metal category! Wooooohooo! We'll give you loads of pictures and stuff soon.

Here's the TV broadcast of the awards:
SVT

The swedish radio:
P3 Guld

The motivation was (in swedish):
"Med fingertoppskänsla och en olustig glimt i ögat ger årets rock/metalalbum lyssnaren en djupdykning bland domedagshits och bredbent mangel i världsklass."

And a brief report in swedish about what happened at the hotel after the awards:
Plaskis

P3 Guld

Switch Opens are nominated for P3 Guld, the swedish radio awards, in the rock/metal category. Information in swedish about the tv and radio broadcast below.


Switch Opens är nominerade till P3 Guld i kategorin årets rock/metal.

Galan sänds direkt i radio: förminglet börjar sändas kl 18. Galan startar kl 20.

P3 Guld 2010 är den enda tv-sända musikgalan under galasäsongen i år och sänds i SVT1 kl 21.30.

P3 Guld-galan hålls den 19 januari på Scandinavium i Göteborg. Köp biljett på Ticnet eller gotevent!

sr.se/p3/guld

Review from Blistering.com (Canada)

Rating: 8,5/10

Although this release marks the debut effort for Switch Opens, a little further investigation reveals that this Stockholm-based act actually started out under the name of Fingerspitzengefühl. But after two full-length albums (2004’s self-titled effort and 2006’s Happy Doomsday), the group soon realised that if they were ever going to be accepted on a world scale, a change of name was called for.

Three years on, and the newly named Switch Opens (comprising of vocalist/bassist Jesper Skarin, guitarists Tomas Bergstrand and Mikael Tuominen and drummer Anders Bartonek) have returned with their latest effort, and once again it’s a strange journey through a whole host of sounds and influences that are difficult to pigeonhole into any one particular genre box.

If you were to lump a broad musical tag on this group, it would most likely be stoner rock. But Switch Opens aren’t what you would call the average stoner rock band in the vein of Kyuss, early Monster Magnet or early Queens Of The Stone Age. While there are some similarities with the mentioned acts, Switch Opens does manage to incorporate a greater sense of experimentalism into their sound, with touches of psychedelic rock, progressive rock and even a bit of punk being incorporated into their overall sound. While on paper it sounds like a complete mess, on CD, Switch Opens manage to make it work like a charm.

The opening track “Express Death” certainly lives up to part of its name, with the bass leading the charge in terms of a fast tempo. The swirling guitars provide some nice sounding space-like effects in the background, while Skarin’s vocals provide enough melody and aggression to give the song a strong sense of catchiness.

Despite its length, the slower and more Mastodon-like “Pyramids” is a strong track, with the band providing enough twists and turns throughout to keep things interesting, while raucous and rather impressive “Paper Walls” introduces a greater punk rock edge to the band’s sound, before transforming into a huge riffing space rock extravaganza for its concluding half.

“He Dives Down” is by far the most experimental and eclectic offering on the album, with twin harmonised guitars, acoustic guitars and a rumbling bass line throughout pitted against distorted vocals, while the shorter Black Sabbath riffed “Lucky Me, Lucky You” is a huge ball of energetic rock.

While most of the album works, there are a couple of tracks that don’t quite measure up. At just over nine minutes long, “Terra Incognita” tends to drag on a little (even if it does have some great ideas), while “Super Globe Of Pain” is a little plodding in places. But despite a couple of less than stellar moments, the band finishes up the album in a strong manner with the rocking “The Electric Hour.”

Unlike a lot of stoner acts, Switch Opens manage to think outside the box, and incorporate a whole host of influences into their sound, making them one of the most interesting acts within the scene. Switch Opens’ debut may not be entirely consistent from start to finish, but there’s more than enough here to make it interesting and worth checking out.

By: Justin Donnelly

Blistering.com