21 Nov 2024
Concord Dawn - Numbers Will Kill Us All EP Review
16 Jul 2013 // A review by Alistar3000
Concord Dawn seem to have been churning out albums on a pretty regular basis over the past few years, each seemingly heading more towards the mainstream than the last. That wasn’t really anything to complain about, as the quality of the music was still at a high level and it seemed like a natural progression. Some of my favourite Concord Dawn tracks have come from those later releases; tracks like Forever from 2010’s The Enemy Within, and The River from last year’s Air Chrysalis are both great examples of the newer sound.
But then along comes Numbers Will Kill Us All, which is very much a return to the old school drum and bass that Concord Dawn started out with. Gone are the vocal heavy tracks, and the warmer mood; in its place are driving beats and that classic dark Concord Dawn feel.
While it’s nice to see a return to that sound, I’d kind of liked the new direction and the greater reliance on vocals; the songs were becoming less sweaty club and more chilled pop. And I thought that was working. Numbers Will Kill Us All works great as a club-ready drum and bass album, but not so great as an album that you’d chuck on as anything other than background music.
It’s definitely going to appeal to those hardcore Concord Dawn, and old school drum and bass, fans, but I just didn’t find it as memorable, or as interesting as the previous few albums.
About Concord Dawn
After touring the album throughout New Zealand they released their second album Disturbance in April 2001 and received Best Electronic Album and Best Independent Release at the 2001 bNet Music Awards. Both Concord Dawn and Disturbance sold far better than expected and the boys received strong reviews in all forms of media not only for their releases but also for their energetic live performances. For the next year they went into hiatus to refine the Concord Dawn sound further with Evan heading to London for 5 months to immerse himself in the culture of the Drum and Bass homeland. Upon his return to New Zealand work was started on their 3rd album Uprising with tracks like Morning Light and Don't Tell Me finding international acclaim well before the album's release. Uprising was released in New Zealand in September 2003 and reached gold sales status in an amazing 3 months.
With Concord Dawn now well established internationally and their catalogue now being distributed worldwide Evan and Matt embarked on a seemingly never ending world tour, travelling all over the United States, Canada, Europe, Asia and Australia. At the 2003 bNet music awards Morning Light won Best Song and Most Radio Play and at the 2004 bNet music awards Uprising received Best Album and Best Electronic Release. Concord Dawn were also nominated for Best Electronic Act at the 2004 New Zealand music awards but narrowly missed out to Salmonella Dub.
Visit the muzic.net.nz Profile for Concord Dawn
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