Album Review - SAND - Tie the Shoelaces, Just Knock Em (Single)

For those of you who don't know, SAND is a Hardcore band hailing from Osaka, Japan. The band consisting of Makoto on lead vocals Ishi on guitar and vocals, Sexim on guitar, King on bass and Ryota on drums has been around since 1999 and has toured all over Japan and in the US. 



SAND's latest release which is an EP released back in 2011 is called Tie the Shoelaces, Just Knock Em which includes three songs, the titles being Shithead, Take That and Rotten, definitely hardcore titles.


1.Shithead - The song starts off with a very almost Black Sabbath kind of guitar, it reminds me of a SIGH song in the beginning, but soon Ryota's drums and Makoto's vocals kick in full force. The song features Makoto doing the what I'd classify as open-throat screaming with Ishi doing the more black metal style backing vocals. It's a very energetic and heavy song, that feels like you could easily mosh or even dance to.


2.Take That - Take That starts off with a heavy guitar then kicks into Ryota's rapid fire drumming and Makoto's powerful screaming. This is definitely a song you could head bang to and would go great in an action movie. Halfway through it kicks into an amazing guitar solo, not sure who did it though. 


3.Rotten - This song starts off with rapid drums and guitar then stops and repeats for a few seconds which just adds to the anticipation and you realize that this is going to be heavy as fuck. Rotten is very energetic, but with a almost battle cry kind of feel to it. If you were going into battle this is definitely the song you'd want to have playing for a fight. Near the end it stops then kicks back in with Makoto's screaming until the end. 


The single is called Tie the Shoelaces, Just Knock Em and although I have no idea what that means I get the feeling that's why they called it that, you can't just look at SAND and realize what kind of music they play. If you're a fan of rock music, hardcore music or metal you will definitely enjoy this. It's nice to see a breath of fresh air in the Japanese music scene. A lot of people may not know who SAND are right now, but trust me. They will. And very soon. 


Tie the Shoelaces, Just Knock Em is just a single, but it's definitely album worthy in terms of content. Sand has come back with their first release after their second album and it's just as strong if not stronger than before.


5/5


Tie the shoelaces, just knock em is available on iTunes US.


Our apologies go out to Makoto, yes MAKOTO for the record the singer's name is M-A-K-O-T-O- I'll never know why I thought his name had 2 A's in it, guess I was excited and busy trying to listen and write at the same time.  We would like to thank Makoto for being able to laugh it off and not make sure this place dies before it even gets started! He's waaaay too awesome for that! Haha fanboy much? Credit where it's due. 


Stay tuned for a review of SAND's second album Nuthin But A Bitter Mouth in the days ahead!