From the End to the Beginning

Dogface

'From the End to the Beginning' is heavy rock that falls mostly on the bluesy […]
By Max Elias
May 27, 2019
Dogface - From the End to the Beginning album cover

'From the End to the Beginning' is heavy rock that falls mostly on the bluesy end of the spectrum. The half-whispered vocals and ringing keyboard in the first track (maybe its an organ) lend a darker air to the music. The title track boasts a solo that is a sticky morass of pinch harmonics and fuzz, fading into a swampy bass groove. The synths in the beginning of 'Not Wanted' may be off-kilter at first, but against the punchy riff that follows it they make sense. The trade-off between guitar and keys soloing is a classic blues trick, just doused in gain and muscular power chords to adapt it to the screaming rock this band plays. It might say the song is called 'not wanted', but I do in fact, want it.

'I Will Be There' is definitely a different-sounding song; the keys intro is haunting, and not in a bluesy way. It's the first ballad on this album. The vocals are high-pitched and recall the voices of countless hair ballad singers. Despite the keys featuring prominently at first, this is not a piano ballad; later the guitars take over and interject some of the same bluesiness found elsewhere on the album. Where 'I Will Be There' was pretty and reserved in places, 'Sleeping With The Enemy' brings stomp and late-70s swagger. Their voices don't resemble each other that much, but I can't help thinking of Bon Scott listening to the vocals here. And the riffs are pure electric Texas blues, like early ZZ Top but harsher. The album sound as a whole waffles between blues-influenced and modern rock; which for example is how you can go from a song like 'Sleeping With the Enemy' to 'Footsteps on the Moon', which clearly comes from post-grunge. The vaguely breakdown-y verses are very 2000s metal-sounding.

'Alone Again' is not a ballad as the title might suggest, but instead a slab of chugging modern rock. Though the vocals are wistful and the subject matter equally so, the guitars chug along around an active main riff. The song does break for a few seconds after the solo before the riff comes back, but otherwise the mellow vibe doesn't last. 'Can't Face Tomorrow' is similar to 'Sleeping With The Enemy' in that it is easy to place as 70s hard rock worship. The blues-based swagger continues on 'You're Taking Me Down'. Not very busy, the song rests on feel for the most part. The lack of showboating extends to the lead; a short burst of bending and pentatonic licks before repeated choruses close out the song. 'I Don't Care' is a song unlike anything on the album thus far, in that it starts out sounding very synthwave-y, even when most of the work is being done by the guitars. It returns to the mellow vibe in the last minute or so, but replaces the poppy keyboards with soulful blues playing.

Overall this is mostly notable for how long it is. There are 15 songs here, which is a lot, even considering that it's only an hour and three minutes long. Fifteen songs on most metal records would be at least an hour and a half. It's solid musically, but I'm not jumping out of my chair or banging my head like a pendulum. A lot of it kind of floated by for me.

7 / 10

Good

Songwriting

7

Musicianship

8

Memorability

6

Production

8
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"From the End to the Beginning" Track-listing:

1. Don't
2. Not Wanted
3. A Single Reason
4. I Will Be There
5. Sleeping With The Enemy
6. Footsteps on the Moon
7. Right Between the Lies
8. Alone Again
9. Can't Face Tomorrow
10. You're Taking Me Down
11. I Don't Care
12. Leave This War
13. Spit It Out
14. Rule the Night
15. Let It Out

Dogface Lineup:

Mats Levén - Vocals
Martin Kronlund - Guitar
Mikael Carlsson - Bass
Perra Johansson - Drums

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