36 Crazyfists

Alaska's 36 Crazyfists are one of those bands that can take a lights-out licking and still keeps ticking. The band has endured a game of label hopscotch over the past few years, releasing four albums on three different labels, including the all fists, all fury The Tide And Its Takers. That instability is never fun for a band and can often shake the foundation on which said band is built, thus taking their focus away from the most important task at hand, which is making a great record. We're happy to report that 36 Crazyfists haven't suffered any ill effects from playing the label game.

These guys plume the recesses of their musical formative years and therefore, The Tide And Its Takers operates on a punk and hardcore-charged battery, more so than prior 'Fists efforts. Early tracks like "We Gave it Hell" and "The All Night Lights" have enough emotional and metallic firepower that they could power their own generator, thanks to burly riffs and a supercharged rhythm section. The album has a gritty, almost gnarly production, providing an ever-so tough, slightly dirty. edge to the tunes, as well.

Vocalist Brock Lindow is in possession of a unique larynx that he capably manipulates, vascillating between a buzzy vibrato that's eerily remniscent of the late, great Layne Staley of Alice in Chains fame. It's one of those "love it or hate it" type of vocal pattens, but regardless, it's distinct and adds another layer to the band's pulsating and urgent post-hardcore sound.

— Amy Sciarretto
05.22.08

There was a time that within the realm of heavy metal when most groups were categorized by one of two styles: extreme metal or melodic metal. But rarely, if ever, did the two meet. However, by the early 21st century, it's hard to find a thriving metal band that doesn't incorporate elements of each approach into their metallic caldron, especially in the case of Kenai, AK based quartet 36 Crazyfists. On their fourth major-label release (and first for the Ferret Music label), 2008's Tide and Its Takers, it would be understandable to fool a newcomer of the band into believing there are two lead singers in the band. Case in point: "The Black Harlow World," which seamlessly alternates between melodic crooning/tranquil music and hardcore screaming/raging metal. This is an approach that 36 Crazyfists uses throughout Tide, as evidenced by such delightful little ditties as the album opening "The All Night Lights" and "Waiting on a War," the group has created an album that appears poised for some serious crossover appeal. ~ Greg Prato, All Music Guide