1914 - The Blind Leading the Blind (2018)^{Release ID: 15870}

The Brutal But Sincere History Lesson

The topic of World War 1 has, and probably always will be, a somewhat popular topic for many sub-genres of Metal due to its aggressively bleak and violent history. World War 2 gets much of the spotlight in modern media due to the ability to tell more heroic and inspiring tales about pilots, struggling ground infantry, or crew members of battleships, but World War 1 has made a comeback in Metal recently due to albums like Evoken's Hypnagogia (2018), Sabaton's The Great War (2019), and of course The Blind Leading the Blind. While Evoken takes a less direct approach, telling the tales of a haunted diary from a long dead World War 1 soldier, and Sabaton always take the celebration of heroic deeds angle, 1914 decide that the source material needs no glamour or gimmick. World War 1 has always been an immensely interesting time of conflict to me, since it marks the beginning of man having to intensely battle with machines and technology. The Model-T was released to the masses in 1908, stainless steel and zippers came in 1913, and with World War 1 beginning in 1914 it was placed directly on the precipice of when technology would finally catch up to warfare in some of the worst ways possible. As the officer tells the rookie in gruesome detail on "Stoßtrupp" how bayonets no longer do the trick, this shows just how conflicted man and technology were at this time. "High Wood. 75 Acres of Hell" tells of a cavalry division charging the enemy with no remorse, but cavalry will quickly become a thing of the past once the hulking mechanisms of tanks like the A7V Mephisto take to the battlefield in an attempt to break the trenches. The Blind Leading the Blind is, most importantly, a raw and unapologetic look at the horrors that technology wrought on a world that wasn't ready for modern warfare. 

1914 play Blackened-Death Metal with various Doom songwriting elements that bring the dark aggression but with a slower and solemn tempo, allowing longer and extended songs that give the lyrics and themes space to really sink in. The slower Doom Metal sections are where 1914 really hit their stride, with layered guitar melodies over crunchy chugs in "Passchenhell" and "A7V Mephisto" being highlights for me. The Blind Leading the Blind manages to strike a perfect balance between having calculated and clear structures and riffs while adding Black Metal blast beats and more chaotic transitions to keep the album sounding crucially brutal. The full Black Metal sections are, however, easily the least inspired and drag the album down a bit, with "C'est mon dernier pigeon" and "Beat the Bastards" sounding slightly off and bland although the band remains tight in their performance. The chugs and drop tuned guitar tone are absolutely on point though, each riff giving off a sense of brutality coupled with somber captivation thanks to the Doom influences. The lower rhythm chugs with the bass guitar are always coupled with a higher lead part, creating a fantastic sound and atmosphere that I'm always a fan of.

The vocals and lyric themes are clear as day, with the harsh vocalist doing an exceptional job of actually pronouncing and accenting the words he's attempting to say, leading to Death Metal vocals that can actually be understood for the most part. Funny how that works, huh? This plays a huge part in why The Blind Leading the Blind works so well from a subject standpoint, since much of the World War 1 atmosphere would have been lost if the vocalist could not be understood as he belts out the measurements and steel grade of the German A7V Mephisto tank among other lines. As pertinent as the lyrics are there are definitely some awkward parts that don't exactly sound right, even though the vocal performance itself is very well done. The falter in word choice isn't exactly cheesy, but something just doesn't feel quite right, especially on "The Hundred Days Offensive" which is a shame because the atmosphere is definitely the thickest on that closing track. 

As forced as some of the lyrics can feel, The Blind Leading the Blind ended up surprising me with with the brutal sincerity it gives its source material. Sabaton attempts to sugarcoat war by singing celebrations of its heroes and Evoken tells its own tale of the ramifications of the war long after it's over, but 1914 does a fantastic job of thrusting the listener directly into the trenches. The music is suitably heavy, the lyrics tell overarching stories of different aspects of the war, and the entire project has this sad but angry tone that describes the atrocious details of a very bloody time while still maintaining an aspect of humanity. The sound clips and spoken word portions are beautifully chosen, with "The Hundred Days Offensive" having a fantastic starting build from a distraught man showing the true futility of war. From the gas, to the artillery shells, to the tanks, to the muddy trench warfare, this album musically describes the amount of death and despair this war wrecked on the world the best I've heard. Humanity wasn't ready for the terrors that it could unleash on itself back in 1914, and 1914 are able to encapsulate that period where soldiers desperately clung to life against horrendous machines and chemicals, with their homes acting like there was some amount of glory to be obtained like in a comic book. The Blind Leading the Blind would have been an instant classic in my book had it not been for some Black Metal and vocal missteps, as well as "War In" and "War Out" becoming tiresome after a few listens. It's still, above all else, one of the most honest albums about war that I've heard with how it shows multiple sides of the conflict.