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I first want to applaud this band for making me type Faceshit a bunch of times, only later realising that I made a typo. Or maybe it isn't a typo and more of a direct representation of my deepest wishes. I hope we`ll never find that out. Thanks guys, for this complete mindfuck. Anyway, Faceshift is formed from the ashes of Swedish death metal band Eternal Oath. The guys didn't feel much for another death metal album, recruited singer Timo Hovinen and reformed as Faceshift.

One of their own press releases describes the band as such: "While power and riffs are the core of Faceshift's sound, melodic and harmonic elements are constantly present, "'Reconcile' is a must for those who love the darkness of Paradise Lost, the riff artistry from Killswitch Engage, the choruses of Linkin Park or Takida and the sheer force of Soilwork."

The clever metalfan will instantly raise his (or her) eyebrows when reading this kind of band-propaganda. And the eyebrow-raising is justified as well, since Faceshift doesn't manage to sound like any of those mentioned bands. Sure, the songs have some catchy elements, but the actual songwriting is of such a mediocre level that it doesn't stick at all. I would just classify it as "just another Swedish metal band".

Main pet peeve is singer Timo Hovinen, who actually has a good, clean voice but somehow his vocals tend to have a hit or miss effect with the tracks. I think it has to do with the mix, Mr Hovinen is way too much in the front. In the chorus of the song "Chokehold" it sounds fine but in the verses it instantly becomes odd. Maybe a different style of singing or key to spice up things a bit?

I consider Reconcile to be a decent first effort, but I think Faceshift would have made more of an impact if they weeded out 70% percent of their material, remixed and remastered the leftover tracks and present a 5 track EP with some kickass songs. Maybe next time!
Line Up:
Timo Hovinen - Vocals
Peter Wendin - Bass
Petri Tarvainen - Guitar
Peter Nagy-Eklöf - Guitar
Stefan Norgren - Drums

Track Listing:
1 Reality/Fatality
2 My Own Demise
3 Self Appointed Victim
4 No Cure Sickness
5 Live The Lie
6 The Dark Domain
7 Chokehold
8 Reconcile
9 Greater Than I
10 The Craving
11 Bound
12 Conclusion