Reviews: DumbSaint _Print_ Source: Rythm & Booze Fanzine Jan/Feb 2002 Issue Author: Staff Date: Jan 2002 Review: Dumbsaint - Supercharger In the last issue of R&B one of my fellow reviewers sent us a review of Dumbsaint live at The Flapper (the same review in which Eyes Wide Shut received an atrocious mention) and they received a glowing review comparing them to Sabbath and Metallica. Well the first track on this 10 track album You Don't Know Me sounds very little to either band mentioned, sure it's ballsy rock but to me has more in common with The Almighty playing dirty grunge. This is enforced by the rip roaring second song Common Obsessions. There's also a more than a hint of Soundgarden in their sound and the vocals, the likes of Single Cell could have come from Superunknown. Ok, so I've tried to explain the sound of Dumbsaint now I'd better tell you if they're any good, well in a word, yes. Dumbsaint have a hard-hitting power, muscular riffs, pounding drums and vocals that are both aggressive and clear. Rarer still for a band of this ilk it's not just about power, they've written an album full of songs with lyrics that are beyond the usual rock star poser shit that metal and rock bands seem to go for these days. The likes of Mind Over Matter show that the band can also write and perform more melodic numbers if they choose without any difficulty, the less bombastic material also helps showcase the vocalists impressive voice. Also got to mention that Dumbsaint have put a video of Jesus Stone on their CD, something that I feel a lot more smaller bands should try to do as it gives another side of the band that you can't get with sound alone. Dumbsaint don't seem to be bothered about the latest trends they just play honest rocking music and that has to be applauded when we're saturated by wannabe Limp Bizkit's. Supercharger is well worth a listen. For more information email dumbsaint@hotmail.com or check the website www.dumbsaint.co.uk. Source: Rhythm & Booze Fanzine Issue 22 Author: The Minger Date: 01/11/01 Review: Thank God for Dumbsaint. Dumbsaint are metal of the classic variety - none of this nu/new/nouvelle stuff. Dumbsaint actually, like, know more than two chords!!! Taking their lead from the Sabbath and Metallica rather than Papa Linkin Bizkit, Dumbsaint's songs are clever, disorientating, inspiring - they even managed to make the Flapper beer taste good. Yeah! They were THAT good! I couldn't make out what the singer was saying but it sounded quite dark - Ozzy Osbourne-style imagery and stuff. Which I like if it's done a certain way - and Dumbsaint do it a certain way...which is good, no? Any fan of any type of heavy rock should take a look at these guys. If you're worried about the state of contemporary rock...then Dumbsaint will make you believe again. Honest. Dumbsaint were the stars of tonight (and maybe the future?)... _Web_ Source: RockBox Internet Radio (http://www.webmesh.co.uk/gwf/radio/home.shtml) Author: Ken Collinson Date: Sep 2002 Review: Dumbsaint is an excellant heavy metal band with a singer who can SING, a guitarist that knows how to do solos and a drum/bass unit that keeps it thumping along, brilliant material - listen out for 'em, they are also in the recording studio this month with tons of new stuff, check em out! Source: Brum Review (http://www.geocities.com/brumreview/front_end.html) Author: Daz AK (daz@adrenalinkick.com) Date: 11/30/01 11:00:11 PM Review: OK - this Is Birmingham Live review, but so what. It seems a lot of people here have heard of Dumbsaint... I wonder how many have actually heard them?.. a show of hands please? Lets get one thing straight. If you don't like Rock music, you can click on "Next Thread" now - there is nothing for you here. So on we go. Firstly - hats off to the band for getting off their collective ass and recording an album. Incidentally - any other bands done that, and released anything? Lets hear about it? I know of only one other... So the sound. Rock. Big Rock! Classic almost.. perhaps? Definitely the potential is there with strong song writing and clever vocal melodies... Apparently this album was put down in one day, and as such it's not going to smack of huge production and massive budgets. Indeed a producer’s hand may be all that it would take to elevate these guys to the dizzy heights….along with, sad to say, a move to another continent across the Atlantic. That said, this recording puts across what the band are about. It does kind of hit and miss the over all power of Dumbsaint live, which to me rests with the recording of the vocals which sound somewhat restrained , but then that sheer live power is one of the hardest things to capture in a recording. That’s a great shame as Carrick has one of those effortless vocal styles, with hints of the classic blues great’s, Elvis... throw in the odd sound of early nineties Seattle and you get the picture. There’s even a hint of Nick Cave in there occasionally. The music…. Smatterings of Creed (You Don’t Know Me/Two Roads), Therapy (Murder of Crows), Pearl Jam (Two Roads again!!), U2/Alice in Chains (In Her Garden) Fat guitars… warm tones.. grooves to move to… Dual Harmony guitar riff’s…. and emotion, something quite blatantly and sadly missing in a lot of music today. Crank it, and sit back and be entertained. If you are a fan of that raw/classic no messin' rock sound, then this album is surely one worthy of the very modest asking price of £5 (available from www.dumbsaint.co.uk I believe – or at your next Dumbsaint gig) Hell – there’s even an MPEG video on the disk too! Faves for me (like that’s relevant?) .. Two Roads, Single Cell and Jesus Stone.. Crunch it lads… gotta love it! If rock is dead, no-body told Dumbsaint, and that can only be a good thing. Source: Brum Review (http://www.geocities.com/brumreview/front_end.html) Author: Neil (thats_entertainment@hotmail.com) Date: 01/22/02 12:55:34 AM Review: Dumbsaint - fantastic performance, again not my sort of thing, but despite that i'd pay to see them again, all seemed decent musicians, the masking tape on the back of the guitar was inspired, and the slides were cool too, although i reckon with more time to set up they could have been better. Can't have a bad word said about the only band to make an Explorer not look like a mincers guitar... Source: Brum Review (http://www.geocities.com/brumreview/front_end.html) Author: Stef (sgorin@jaguar.com) Date: 11/1/01 05:51:18 AM Review: Dumbsaint. Ripping set. Musically very tight (as normal). First listen to the new material from the new album and definatly worth a purchase me thinks. 9/10 Source: Brum Review (http://www.geocities.com/brumreview/front_end.html) Author: ed$ 209 (paranoidandroid@blueyonder.co.uk) Date: 11/1/01 05:14:00 AM Review: And then on to "the mighty" DumbSaint. As ever, to the un-musically minded (ie.me) they sounded tighter than a gnat's chuff. For those who haven't heard them, don't be put off by this "metal" tag wich they all seem to love, think more Therapy, Bush, Metallica for the sound as opposed to Slayer and their nightbreed. Oh, and they have an album out, which I believe is well worth purchasing . Source: Brum Review (http://www.geocities.com/brumreview/front_end.html) Author: Dom from Alchemy (effercy@hotmail.com) Date: 09/21/01 08:43:46 PM Review: How many goddamn sig changes were in that 1st song??!?! Metal is, apparently, dumb ass student shit...Dumbsaint add a bit of intelligence to the genre. Mad time changes, the lyrics intrigued me even though I couldn't make them out too well - Carrick got one of those voices that really bends around the words, giving syllables certain meanings, slight turns of phrase, whatever, i dunno. 9/10 Source: EgoSoSo website (http://egososo.moonfruit.com/) Author: Alex ESS Date: ? Review: They're not dumb, and I'm sceptical about their sainthood. Gritty metal/rock sound with emphatic vocals. Imagine Pearl Jam, with a few extra pounds of metal meat. ___ Updated: Nov 2001.