01. It Starts Within
02. The Truth Is Sold
03. People Like You
04. Through Ashes We Crawl
05. Same Old Story
06. Dead Eyes See No Future
07. Walls Of Insecure
08. Idiot
09. Forsaken Love
10. Cursed By The Thought
11. Time Is Running Out

Sweden's By Night already made a lasting impression on me with their very nice debut "Burn The Flags", released in 2005. This album introduced a high potential young thrash band clearly influenced by US hardcore. This may be the reason why you'll find them tagged as metalcore everywhere on the web. Well, update your definitions, you'd be hard-pressed to find a lot of metalcore influences here. A New Shape Of Desperation. By Night now belong to that branch of Swedish thrash led by Darkane (i.e. based on Meshuggah but a bit more accessible).

For a second album, I call that a hit. ANSOD is a real killer of an album. My first impression was not so good though. I thought it was quite predictable and uninspired. Then I realized it was actually inspired by quite a lot of genres, and I was hooked. How could you not be when hearing the Neurosis influence on "Cursed By The Thought", the Mastodon and Fear Factory bits scattered everywhere or the melodic guitars à la Dark Tranquility? How could you not fall instantly in love with the alt rock riff of "Through Ashes We Crawl"? How could you not be simply addicted to the amazing chorus of "Same Old Story" (easily the best song here)? How could you not want to listen again and again to the simple but efficient and gooseflesh-inducing instrumental closing track?

Ok, I just love this album. The vocals are not really varied (just hardcorish screams and a few growls) but I kind of like his tone. Besides, it's really compensated by the amazing guitar work. The two guitar players really did a great job varying the speed - with the occasional moshing part thrown in for good measure - and the atmospheres and including a lot of melodic or dissonant undertones. They are well helped by the production which gave the whole album a sludgy, ominous vibe that reminds me a lot of those US bands such as Withered or Today Is The Day.

I guess most of you will think I'm a bit over the top but I've really been struck by the sheer quality and excellent songwriting displayed on this album. The only bad song is the 55-second "Idiot" but it is too short to ruin anything. A New Shape Of Desperation is a multi-layered album that needs to be listened to deeply in order to be fully appreciated. And if you don't see any layers here, just listen to those riffs and choruses, they should be catchy enough for you.


Highlights: Same Old Story, The Truth Is Sold, Through Ashes We Crawl, Cursed By The Thought, Time Is Running Out

Performance:	9
Songwriting:	8
Originality:	7
Production:	9