After great releases of Green Lizard and Agresión, the Lowlands bring us Brainshake. These Dutch metallers release their debutalbum on 4Tune Records. Founded in 1998, Brainshake was and still is: Eric (vocals), Loek (drums), Pim (guitar), Marcel (guitar) and Philippe (bass). Brainshake is a new band in the music scene. With their roots in both nu-metal and deathmetal, they initially set off with a Kittie a-like screamo song “Level X”. The grunt that vocalist Eric produces is initially a bit irritating but his voice seems to evolve during the rest of the album though. His vocal capacities range from Mike Patton a-like influences to deathmetal grunts. Supported by funky, low-tuned guitars, Brainshake has managed to come up with a diverse album. Not every song is of the same quality but songs as “Null Chamber”, “Sleep Messiah” and “Walk Away” are superb.

Intelligent song structures with a variety of music styles all blending in together. Menno Meerbach provided these songs with a modern and heavy sound. “Gently Destructive” is a nice debut for a Dutch band. If these guys can continue to evolve and aren’t afraid to leave the grunting out, the future looks bright for Brainshake. As far as this is possible in this small country, because sadly enough for the band this is not the US. This record will hit your local stores in November but you can also win this CD (and a free ticket for the 4Tune festival) on their website www.brainshake.nl. Besides the contest this website is really worth checking out!