Norway, home of Mayhem, Emperor and my own personal faves Pagan’s Mind, has a rich heritage of metal/rock acts which are now joined by Desperado who, “pick up where punk left off.” They claim that, “listening to their music is like hearing five clicks in a game of Russian roulette!” WTF? 

Despite my disappointment that this Desperado weren’t the one that featured Clive Burr and Dee Snider I popped it onto the old i-pod and immediately noticed that in terms of length this is a short album populated by short songs. This is often a good thing as if there’s one you don’t like there’ll be another along shortly.

What you find on this CD is that, in my opinion, not many of the songs are ones that are any good. In fact I’d suggest that The Day Emo Died (a serious cause for celebration) is a strong candidate for worst song ever! It really is that dreadfully dull. 

There’s not a single memorable hook on the disc, the sound is tinny (I appreciate that they’re not on a major label) the performances, whilst energetic aren’t exactly world class and all in all it’s a bit of a mess. Perhaps, it’s an age thing. I’m fairly confident that I’m not in the target audience for this release so if you’re in your teens and don’t remember punk give it a try. 

The songs I would mark down as adequate include the opener All Hat No Cattle, Persistent Descent and Heritage from Hell but otherwise this is a very disappointing effort that in no way justifies the hyperbolic accompanying press release. 

One thing I would say though is not to take my word for it. Desperado are touring in early October. Go along and make up your own mind especially if you are into At the Drive In or other screamo types.

'Beauty Is The First Victim' is released via Stunted Records on October 2nd

Let us know your views on 'Beauty Is The First Victim'

Track List

All Hat No Cattle
Velvet Suffocation
Persistent Descent
Walls Don't Have Colours
Beauty is the First Victim
The Day Emo Died
Heritage From Hell
The Frame
Plastic Century Mantra
All Hat No Cattle - Video

Line Up

Thomas Ryjord - Vocals
Kurt Sprenger - Guitar
Asgeir Engan - Guitar
Eskild Naess - Bass
Thomas Ovrevik - Drums