Smeer - Lound And Clear

Year of Release: 2004
Label: Lion Music
Catalog Number: n/a
Format: CD
Total Time: 46:36:00

By the time you are reading this, the second (not counting the two demos) album of Canadian metallers Smeer is already available. Loud And Clear is their official debut effort, released by Lion Music, who promote not just progressive rock, but also hard rock, and Smeer definitely falls in the latter category. According to several reviews, the band has an awesome live reputation. The fact that Smeer has been asked to have their music feature in an extreme motorcycle stunt video, also says something about their musical style.

On the silver disc, the reputation they have as a live band is also reflected. Their sound is very cohesive and solid as a rock. Comparable to bands such as Nickelback or Godsmack. The guitars are heavy and crunchy, but I didn't hear many solos in the songs. Honestly said, if you heard the first song, the album does not hold many surprises for the listener. The sound is fairly consistent throughout the album. I say "fairly" as there are some nice songs on the album that have a different sound. Such as "Mother," which became second in an international songwriting contest. This is more like a ballad, which highlights the vocal qualities of Ryan Leclair, who has a strong, powerful voice. Or "Seed," which was voted 3rd in a "Song of the Year 2003" contest, with only Evanescence and Audioslave to top that! Pretty impressive. Especially the latter song is very good, with acoustic guitars, giving the band a different sound instantly.

OK, no complex melodies, no soaring keyboards, but just plain and honest hard rock, or nu-metal, if you like. But good quality music! And they have shown with songs such as "Seed" and "Disease," they can do more than just write heavy songs. So taking Loud And Clear for what it is, I can say: message conveyed. Smeer is loud and proud of it. They have a good sound and good production, so I like it. Check it out, they have samples on their website.

[This review originally appeared July 2004 at the ProgPower Online review site -ed.]
Tracklisting:
What Else Can I Do / Digging / Mother / Your Time / Condemned / Flying Blind / Creepy / Disease / Afraid / My World / Seed

Musicians:
Ryan LeClair - lead vocals
Deny Boucher - guitars and backing vocals
Bryon Cote - bass and acoustic guitars
Niall Mellors - drums

Discography:
Loud And Clear (2004)
Dischord (2004)

Genre: Rock

Origin CA

Added: November 27th 2004
Reviewer: Marcel Haster
Score:
Artist website: www.smeer.com
Hits: 1672
Language: english