At the age of 62, I am still learning about music. After having reviewed a couple of Metalcore albums very positively I was wondering whether my taste has evolved in such a way that I can comprehend and like more bands that play this musical genre. Therefore I requested two albums for this week’s reviews. I got DEFOCUS and BLOOM. The review of the former will be shown on the site right next to this one, so you can compare.

As for BLOOM, it took a bit of digging to actually find out where they are from. Well, the clues are in the web addresses and social media names. It seems they are an Australian band from Sydney, and what I gather from all the comments that I have seen about them in the Australian (internet) press, they are considered to be a big deal there. Unfortunately that adoration has thawed a bit for me as they haven’t updated their own website since somewhere in 2023. Come on guys, get with it, in this day and age you need to give every interested party as much information as possible, if you wish to survive inside as well as outside the Antipodean area!

As for the music of BLOOM that is being played on “Maybe In Another Life” , it ranges from soft and emotional intermezzos up and until almost Grindcore like parts. And of course everything in between. I am glad that they are able and willing to diversify as much as they do, as it makes you able to breathe when the intensity drops from 100 to 20, before slowly rising again. I wouldn’t have expected otherwise, but sometimes it just explodes to the top of the range without due warning.

If I read what I just put down, you would expect that the songs are not making any sense. Well, you thought wrong, they do, at least most of the time. That make sense to me, but I confess that I have one of those minds that likes to be taken outside their comfort zone. At least, musically, that is. BLOOM have made “Maybe In Another Life” just short enough to prevent your mind from overheating, burning up or even melting down. Yes, just under 30 minutes is short for a full album, but I never heard anyone complain when the VAN HALEN albums were that short, or even better, “Reign In Blood” by SLAYER.