It’s bands like Belgium’s Link that prove that the music of today still has passion without being the usual trite that tries to emulate a popular trend or genre. There’s no ego or facade, just an enormous heavy-duty sound. Music like this doesn’t date, you put it on and admire the ruthlessness and immense power of it, even down to the look of the album with it’s dark isolated imagery. This is grim and mournful, but all done with a scathing sense of resistance.
From the relentless hardcore sound of the opening track ‘No turning back,’ you are stopped in your tracks by the breakdowns on the Link Euro Tour CD. When played real loud the drums have this quadraphonic shattering sound which blasts out of each individual speaker. It then goes straight back into the fist pumping sound that vents all that anger. To draw musical comparisons, bands like From Ashes Rise or Alpinist would certainly come to mind, but of course Link are no imitators and certainly stand their own ground with their sound.
The production is top notch also, giving each instrument the perfect amount of breathing room. From hauntingly melodic to heavy doomy riffs, Link are full on. This album is a special edition of unreleased tracks and two tracks from each of their previous albums Chapter I and Chapter II (Düster). It is good to hear how the band have progressed in sound from each one. When you get to the most recent recordings, they show great variation, yet in keeping with the dark and gloomy. ‘Breaking Point’ has a great, almost ‘She Sells Sanctuary’ riff, accompanied by an aggressive mantra of the title. The album finishes off perfectly with the calming acoustic sound of ‘28072012.’
Released by Irish label Distro-y, whose impressive discography of releases so far are by heavy contempories such as Putrefaction, Krang, Bacchus etc. It certainly is an ideal label for Link, as it’s releases all have one thing in common, and that is crushing, heavy music and independent ethos.
Link’s Euro Tour CD is available HERE.
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