First Blood Part II

The Ultimate Punishment Mobile

Reviewed by Kaheli

The album opens with a quick to-the-bone tidbit of grindcore punk aptly named ‘Anxiety’. Just as you’re thinking ‘hmmm, so it’s grindcore’, you’re catapulted into an explosion of retro-style punk reminiscent of some of the greatest old styled punk bands around…

The next track, ‘River Of Tears’, is a catchy rhythmic tune with an amazing guitar riff that is designed to grab and unwillingly hook you while the lyrics send a message about the choices in life we face early on. Something the majority of listeners will find themselves relating with. It does ensnare you…to the point where it’s hard to move onto the next tune because you find yourself wanting to lock it on repeat.

The third track, ‘I Walk My Own’, opens right away with a great snap on the skins followed closely with a guitar riff that sets the song into a moving beat. With verses written to make you realize that maybe, just maybe, being dysfunctional isn’t quite so…dysfunctional anymore. From the gritty texture of Tuomo’s vocals to the guitar solo, this song definitely has earned a place on the recommended list…

Moving into ‘Love Hates Betrayal’, I found this song not doing much for me. While it’s not a bad song, it’s not the greatest this album has to offer but whatever you do, don’t skip it. It’s still worth hearing at least once, maybe twice

‘Paint Me In Your Dream’ has to be my personal favorite of the entire album. From the execution of the guitars, drums and even the bass to the lyrics…it hooked me the first time ’round and it hasn’t deviated since. As which is my favorite part of the track, it’s almost impossible to choose…maybe it’s the chorus itself: ‘If you paint me in your dream, Then paint me in your bed, When you paint me in your dream, True Colors won’t fade away’. It’s a tough one, I can’t decide… :O

The next track in the line-up, ‘Tornio City’, is relatively short in comparison with the rest of the album, it’s also the one track with the most grindcore influence. It’s infused with a quick n’ hard beat but just didn’t seem to do much for me outside of that. Not to diss their hometown but maybe it just has a bit more grind than I prefer…

‘First Blood’ opens with a nice thunder of skins with just the right amount of guitar screech to progress into a bouncing and rockin’ tune. It’s a song written about…well, my conclusion is that no man ever forgets their first time in anything As for other listeners, you really should hear it for yourself and draw your own conclusions. Who knows? Maybe you see vampires whereas I, um, don’t.

Opening right away with a great rhythm, ‘Mine For A Moment’ is great track but just didn’t possess the power to jiggle my jollies as much as some of the other album tracks have. Now, ‘Simple Man’, here’s a track where I find the guitar to has a sound that’s just a bit outside of the punk realm. Think more old ZZ Top…and that’s where I got snapped up at. The title basically says all you may need to know about the meaning but don’t necessarily take my word for it either, go listen and judge for yourself. It’s definitely earned a spot on the recommended list.

‘Gun In The Mouth Blues’…wait a minute. Screech..back up. Start again. Did I just hear a ever-so-slight flavor of *gasp* rockabilly infused with the rockin’ retro-punk? Yes, I do believe I did and it works. :O Great ‘punkabilly’ song about the depression that all too often plagues northerners…

The final track and album ending, ‘That’s Quite Much’, opens with a sweet & knarly guitar riff going into a tune that isn’t too long in time nor too short. Just the right amount to end the album with leaving you with the message that while you’ve seen too much, you still haven’t seen enough.

While The Ultimate Punishment Mobile doesn’t particularly give a rat’s ass about international success, massive world tours or even nailing a major label contract, they have, despite all that, quite outdone themselves with this album as well as surpassing a lot of bands who do care. Tuomo’s vocals are infused with just the right amount of rough texture that clearly define them as uniquely his and nobody else. ‘First Blood Part II’ is filled to capacity with some great guitar riffs outputted by Tuomo and Hannu. Timo’s drums are hard and heavy but lend just the right amount of oomph needed to carry this album without overpowering the others. Last, but by no means least, is Kimmo on bass, he lends a really great thump to ‘First Blood Part II’ without too much domination. All in all, it’s a fantastic album well worthy of being in anyone’s music collection.

‘First Blood Part II’ is available worldwide as a physical CD and as a digital download from all well known digital distribution websites such as CdBaby, iTunes, Amazon, Napster, Spotify, Nokia etc.

Paint Me In Your Dream

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Our Rating:

8.75/10

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