Reviews

Fact: The Bled are a flavorful blend of metal and hardcore that squeezed their way into the scene at the time that Eighteen Visions started to gain notoriety, American Nightmare had hit the fan and Every Time I Die t-shirts were part of public school dress code. Fact: The Bled released a solid album on Fiddler Records and were then picked up by the dark rimmed glasses loving Vagrant Records in an effort to become a little more eclectic and a little less boy next door. Fact: "Found In The Flood" is actually for the most part a solid album with a tendency to initiate the act of rocking out.
 
Jeremy Talley and Ross Ott make sweet love to their guitars throughout this entire record. In other words, they know how to handle their instruments. What makes it so different from "Pass The Flask" is the technological advancement, especially on "She Calls Home" and "The Last American Cowboy." Lyrically, James Munoz is moderately less scatterbrained in his prose. Most notable for their lyrics are "Antarctica," with lines like "underneath a web of satellites/concrete structures puncture holes in the sky/nothing lives here and no one comes here anymore," and "regurgitate the shit you find in the dirty dreams of a rapists' mind/congratulate the corpse you drag/put the money in the body bag," which comes from the song, "I Don't Keep With Liars Anymore." 
 
Breakdowns are scarce and sound effects are a little overdone, especially since after the "last" song, it's another twenty minutes or so of sound effect until the hidden track. There's nothing worse than having to wait for things, especially hidden tracks, which are usually the best on the album. If something is so great, why do you have to hide it? And worse, why do I have to be tortured for twenty minutes until I can have it? 
 
One point of interest is the artwork, done by Maggie Taylor (www.maggietaylor.com).  It's computer generated, and features remarkable details including a woman with a two-headed fish around her neck that I assume she "found in the flood." I hope she doesn't plan on cooking that for dinner; she too might grow another head.  Okay, bad joke, but the point is, the artwork is poignant and creative.
 
Altogether, there isn't really anything bad I can say about this release which according to my readers, is a surprise because apparently I hate everything I review. If you look at "Found In The Flood," as something very much its own, you'll have a great time listening to it. If you're looking for some tough, grizzly hardcore, keep looking because this most certainly is not it. By the way, this band puts on a superb live show,  so check their tour dates if you haven't already caught them in action.