Craving For Caffeine
Disturbing The Neighborhood

Over the years, I've always had a certain skepticism towards those who self-declare as rock/metal, maybe because, from my perspective, it's either black or white. You're either metal or rock, to put it simply. Sure, there are some cases where perhaps this fusion has worked, but I believe we can talk about individual cases rather than mass phenomena. That said, here in front of me are Craving For Caffeine, a trio that soon had to adapt to a duo formation and from there found their groove in a bare-bones setup. A vibe that recently led them to release "Disturbing the Neighborhood". Now, no offense to the musicians, but honestly, I haven't got a clue what the heck is the intent behind their offering, meaning: okay, you like distorted sounds and there's nothing wrong with that, but can you explain why insert that terrible electro background in "No compromise 4"? Moving on to the vocals: the melodic parts are the most successful, so why muddle it all up with choruses that only confuse matters and tackle shouted parts that are hardly striking? Perhaps it's better to keep it simple and opt for what works best (namely the melodic). The next track, "Early reflection", could be a fairly convincing song, but then you get towards the end and here we are again with the offbeat synths. Again I wonder: if the proposal is meant to be a hybrid between rock and metal, what on earth does electronic fit in? Being current doesn't necessarily mean you have to incorporate into your sound everything that's popular today, quite the opposite. The remaining six tracks don't go beyond what's stated above, only "Say goodbye" and "Payback" stand out, the most direct songs which, in their simple structure, manage to be at least enjoyable. Let's put it this way dear Craving For Caffeine: this work is an important step more than anything for yourselves, to understand which path to take and avoid the pitfalls made in this work. Therefore, wherever possible, try to minimize all sorts of contamination and take a sharp turn in your artistic proposal; fundamentally, you're more credible in a heavy context than in the guise of veteran rockers.