We can’t always blame the younger generation of extreme musicians for having different influences than what old traditional 80s Metal infected farts like myself used to grew up on… But then again, those kinda people not necessarily should expect us to really like their stuff in the same way! To me Germany’s THIRTYONE DIES is a perfect example for this. This fourpiece from Stuttgart, Germany originally started out as BULLS EYE (still with a slightly different line-up though), released their first demo in early 2000 (as THIRTYONE DIES) and nowadays could already be labeled a pretty tight and aggressive unit. When it comes to the overall musicianship / production there’s nothing to complain about here, as the nine songs have been put down on tape in a surprisingly professional, kick ass manner. But unfortunately these guys tend to mix pseudo aggressive, lowtuned grooves with brutal Death grunts, a combination which I personally can’t stand at all. So, as you can probably imagine I had quite a tough time listening to this release and which finds its negative climax in the song ‘Born Again’ for me (no, it luckily ain’t a Black Sabbath cover!). The overall omnipresent, disgusting NU Metal influences just take over completely here! Definitely not my cup of tea at all and their rather strange coverart certainly won’t help selling the disc either. If you freak out on NU Metal releases in the same way as on pure fuckin’ Death Metal though, you shouldn’t hesitate to contact the band at the following address for all further (ordering) info: Markus Maurer, Schöttlestr. 37, 70597 Stuttgart, Germany, 31dies@gmx.de, www.31dies.de