Last month's pick was Filter- The Amalgamut (Warner Bros., 2002). To see past picks check out the archive.

What's up freaks? The month of August did not put up any good offerings until 8/20 and my choice for the pick of the month was extremely easy. I picked Blindside's Silence which is an amazing piece of work! For 3 months, I've been waiting for this bad boy to come out and now it's here. Keep in mind, this is not a brand new band. These Swedens have kept quiet putting out 2 albums prior to Silence but thanks to a little help and exposure from P.O.D., these guys are ready to take America by storm!

Blindside signed to P.O.D's new imprint 3 Points through Elektra and Sonny (of P.O.D.) raves, "They play with such a high level of emotion...Silence is by far the best album of they year." I quite agree with this statement. When I first heard Caught A Glimpse, I was already hooked into this band. They had me. This song is intense, powerful, melodic, harmonized and beautifully done. However, in addition to a great song, my favorite part would have to be the Transformer-effect on the vocals during the chorus. Never had I heard that effect put to good use. Plus, it brings back childhood memories of Megatron, who by the way, has the worst aim in the world for being able to transform into a gun. Okay, back to the song. I was immediately hooked and some-what disappointed when I heard the news that this wasn't the single being released.

Instead, the label opted to put out Pitiful as the first single. I was really curious to see how this song measured up to Caught A Glimpse. Instead, I got an earful of another great song. Once again, this song has all the powerful elements in the first minus the effect on vocals. The Chorus of this song is pretty cool where he screams, "And I remember every word you said, Come back in time, come back. And I remember every I would soon be dead, now so pitiful, so pitiful." It's catchy as hell and not just this song, the whole damn album is put together amazingly. Which begs the question, how come no one scooped these guys up earlier?

These guys are heavy and catchy but at the same time, could play to millions of mosh pitting metal dudes as well as millions of screaming girls with their slower rendition of songs. Hence, the band wins on both fronts by hitting the road with Project 86 for a few weeks and then plan to go out on the road with Hoobastank. Blindside can play both ways and can earn both genres of the fans.

According to some, it looks as though Blindside was more on the wild side but with this fresh new start on 3 Points Records, it seems the band has mellowed out a little and matured in the song-writing department. I'm a big metal head, but Blindside fulfills my needs and much like a Filter, put together well written songs. It just goes to show you that you don't have to scream all the time and that having a front man who can sing and harmonize will take you places.

The rest of the album doesn't disappoint. The first 6 songs off this album hit you like a sledge hammer. Each offering something different musically. Despite Caught A Glimpse and Pitiful, my next favorite song if I had to pick one would be The Endings. I like this song a lot but I love the break down in the middle of the song. Haven't quite heard a breakdown like that before, but it's pretty sweet.

After the sixth song, the CD kind of slows down with the songs, Silence, Time will change your heart & Midnight. I actually like the slow, acoustic song called Silence.These songs all deserve a listen to. Where they lack in intensity and sceaming, they make it up for melodic versus and mellow choruses. Like I said before, this album doesn't disappoint. I highly suggest picking this up and try catching them live when they come to town. These Swedens have brough a unique and stylistic sound to the America's and I want to thank them for that!

Until next time, later freaks!

By T-Bone