Review by JD on November 17, 2010.

I love getting a new release from a band I had reviewed beforehand. Seeing if the band had a musical growth or if they ended up being somewhat a complete and utter tragic collapse is pretty much what I live for. S.D.D. is one of those bands that have come around for another time of picking my brain. Lets see if the band swam or sunk like a stone.

I had originally written how amazingly fun this band was. Crossed between old styled Punk Rock like the Dead Kennedys and metal in the vein of Motorhead, they are not what you would call a technical sort of band, but they great at what they do. Passion added in with a good amount of fun make a band just plainly enjoyable. Plainly put this band really does show that you don’t have to be axe-slinger gods to make some great music. Now as the two song CD single plays in the machine... the proof is in the pudding, but the pudding is spoiled.

The track called 'Atheist' starts off, a raucous sort of riff, that is not very original. It is catchy for a moment or two, but it lacks the spark they had on their previous release and becomes boring real fast. 'Hangman Blues' is a good song, but hardly ualifying as their best. It seemed that instead of going forward, they kind of lost both their way and fun. Gone is the old school
Punk and Motorhead things... now it is just bad Punk.

Hope the rest of the album when it comes out is way fucking better. If this is any indication, it will not be good. And for my original question... the answer is- they sank like a stone and drowned here, deciding not to swim a stroke. Sad!. On their first release that I had the pleasure of reviewing, they were amazing and fun, but not here. S.D.D. have turned into a band I do not want to hear anymore.

Categorical Rating Breakdown

Musicianship:6
Atmosphere: 5
Production: 7
Originality: 4
Overall: 5

Rating: 5.4 out of 10

Review by JD on November 17, 2010.

I love getting a new release from a band I had reviewed beforehand. Seeing if the band had a musical growth or if they ended up being somewhat a complete and utter tragic collapse is pretty much what I live for. S.D.D. is one of those bands that have come around for another time of picking my brain. Lets see if the band swam or sunk like a stone.

I had originally written how amazingly fun this band was. Crossed between old styled Punk Rock like the Dead Kennedys and metal in the vein of Motorhead, they are not what you would call a technical sort of band, but they great at what they do. Passion added in with a good amount of fun make a band just plainly enjoyable. Plainly put this band really does show that you don’t have to be axe-slinger gods to make some great music. Now as the two song CD single plays in the machine... the proof is in the pudding, but the pudding is spoiled.

The track called 'Atheist' starts off, a raucous sort of riff, that is not very original. It is catchy for a moment or two, but it lacks the spark they had on their previous release and becomes boring real fast. 'Hangman Blues' is a good song, but hardly ualifying as their best. It seemed that instead of going forward, they kind of lost both their way and fun. Gone is the old school
Punk and Motorhead things... now it is just bad Punk.

Hope the rest of the album when it comes out is way fucking better. If this is any indication, it will not be good. And for my original question... the answer is- they sank like a stone and drowned here, deciding not to swim a stroke. Sad!. On their first release that I had the pleasure of reviewing, they were amazing and fun, but not here. S.D.D. have turned into a band I do not want to hear anymore.

Categorical Rating Breakdown

Musicianship:6
Atmosphere: 5
Production: 7
Originality: 4
Overall: 5

Rating: 5.4 out of 10

Review by Adam M on January 23, 2011.

This album has both melody and hardcore elements come together for an interesting mix. The music by Bleeding Utopia is abrasive and up front in nature. It recalls the likes of At The Gates or Dark Tranquillity in its style. The music rolls along at a reasonable tempo and doesn’t really stick out or ever become overly dry either. The song 'A Life’s Decay' is a highlight with injected melody. The album closes on a good note altogether, with the last couple of tracks standing out from the pack.

The problem with the disc is that it doesn’t sound incredibly professional. There are only four tracks, they all have slightly inferior production values and the sound is limited. Thankfully the hardcore influences don’t take over too much giving the album some strength to be appreciated as a Melodic Death Metal release. It has enough groove at times to be somewhat catchy, but again nothing makes a huge impression. The biggest draws here are certainly the intensity the band portrays and the melodic vibe that shows up from time to time. There really isn’t anything to elevate the album from being average at best, however, and taking the limited playing time into account, there is definitely much room for improvement in the future.

Bleeding Utopia have some good moments, but need to bring their music to a higher level if they want to compete with bigger metal bands. Their "2010 Promo" gets progressively better which is good sign that perhaps the band will only get progressively better in the future as well. As it stands their music has highs and lows and is a mixed bag overall. It’s also hard to judge an album that’s only four songs long, so I took that into account when giving a score.

Categorical Rating Breakdown

Musicianship: 6.5
Atmosphere: 6.5
Production: 6
Originality: 6.5
Overall: 6.5

Rating: 6.4 out of 10