Left in Kowloon

Premonitions of War | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (January 27, 2004)
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Victory Records
• ASIN: B00018U8PS
• Also Available in: Audio CD  |  MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (9 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #324,153 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A thing of rare beauty, May 8, 2005

By 

cosmokane31 (San Francisco, CA United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Left in Kowloon (Audio CD)

Premonitions of War' "Left in Kowloon" is a thing of rare beauty. From the mysterious urban visuals to the cinematic lyrics, the packaging is clean, dark, and abstract. But the true beauty lies in the brutality underneath. While the album is on Victory, a label associated with hardcore (and more recently with metalcore), it has much more in common with the grindcore of Pig Destroyer or Napalm Death. Fueled by downtuned riffs, crushing blastbeats, and roaring vocals, 12 tracks blaze by in just over 26 minutes. The first 5 tracks are minute-long mercy killings; the astounding "Black Den" then slows the pace with haunting, sludgy riffs. After the industrial ambience of "Cables Hum Overhead," the madness resumes. The latter half of the album adds tempo changes and Sabbath-esque grooves, while spaciously dissonant chords throughout lift this band above the "-core" pack. Rarely has such brutality had such depth.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Sheer Brutality, May 25, 2004

By 

Frankenchrist "Minor Threat" (USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Left in Kowloon (Audio CD)

On an angry scale of one to ten (ten being the angriest) PREMONITIONS OF WAR'S forthcoming CD, "Left in Kowloon" would be somewhere around an eleven. Their brutally infuriating blend of metalcore and Death Metal is like something not of this world. Simple words can't describe the level of intensity these guys have achieved in this corrosive, remorseless album. This was yet another CD under the Victory label that assaults your nerve ending from beginning to end. Music of this variety has the tendency to be somewhat unnerving because of its unyielding characteristics but this particular album has an addiction factor due to an overwhelming application of creativity and diversity. This is not your run of the mill "deathcore" album containing the "if-then" orchestration either. Their transitional scales are intelligently planned illustrating an ability to be sporadic but not perplexing. The crushing mosh styled beats are pressed against a sonic blast of speedy synchronizations. Every member in the band is obviously working their ass off together in this garish series of songs. If you had to make some comparisons, you could look to other bands like UNSANE, SOILENT GREEN and NEUROSIS. Don't assume too much though and quickly package them as another Deathcore posse because you would be selling them short of what they are really about. Generally speaking, this CD is worth being a part of your coveted music collection.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Grinding Hardcore Done Well, March 3, 2004

By 

Twitch (Atlanta, GA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: Left in Kowloon (Audio CD)

As with the majority of the metal releases coming from Victory, you will find an amalgam of hardcore, grind, and metal lightly tossed together and served up on your average plate of aggression, but unlike the rest Premonitions of War focus mainly on the grind aspect (vocally and structure wise to be specific), and I'll be damned if they don't pull it off nicely. To be absolutely honest, this album is completely crushing, in that beat-the-hell-outa-whomever-is-close kind of way. The sound comes from the fantastic guitar work. By not trying to pull off anything overly technical with the guitars, `Left in Kowloon' keeps the aggression that it could have easily lost; though at times references to A Life Once Lost and Meshuggah can be quite obvious. The vocal abilities are quite good, referencing the great Pg. 99 on far more than one occasion. Speed plays an integral role in the feeling of the record. The time changes are fairly constant through the songs; some being ragingly fast tracks, others moving along at a more "normal" pace. Fans of Embrace Today, All Out War, and Glass Casket would be well advised to pick this up. And just in case I have been too vague; this album is heavy, grinding, crushing.