Point-Blank - Gatling Gun Manifest (Demo)
Self-financed

file under death metal / grindcore

Ramon: Finland has proven to bring forth a couple of nice surprises, which evokes the disadvantage that it hardly ever surprises you when a good band comes over. But a self-financed demo is something to pay some extra attention to. I have had better DIY’s (Do It Yourself) in my hands, yet most of them can only hope for this result. Just keep on pounding, is the motto of these gentlemen and so they do, with respect to the traditional death metal. No bullshit, an homage to the nineties death metal. A firm deep grunt, rolling drums, hidden bass and every now and then a solo to spice things up a bit. I do not necessarily think of a band from Finland, on the one hand, they do not play their music as such, and on the other hand, the production is a little too vague to define its nativity. This can be considered as one of the major points of criticism. That is, when I just mention the demo itself, because their site qualifies for improvement too. The chosen font is unreadable on my desk. Pity, as this is a band that balances on the edge and things like this could cause falling attention, which they might have gotten if this was a little better.

Point-Blank takes us by the hand towards the American Civil War, for a crossfire of the then renowned Gatling. For the history enthusiast among our readers, this is when The United States split up in those types you could admire in the legendary Top Gear episode in Alabama (“you guys aren’t homosexuals, now are you? You just wait right here, I’ll go get the boys”) and the Americans that figured out that slavery might not be a human way to get cheap workers. Lyric wise, they leave the political aspect as it is, it is merely the fascination for the gun itself and violence in general, I guess. But hey, the pen is still mightier than the sword, or so they say. Although often enough the stroke of a pen has provoked the wielding of the sword. Just maybe Point-Blank will provoke some labels to offer them that one pen to sign their contract. We will see.

Rating: 66/100 (details)

http://www.pointblank-band.net