Start With A Strong and Persistent Desire almost never got a chance to start at all. Aldershot's Vex Red spent a couple of years playing Home Counties toilets for little praise and less money. Then, on the verge of throwing in the towel, they spotted an article announcing producer Ross Robinson needed bands for his new label, sent away a demo and, a matter of weeks later, found themselves signed up and working with Robinson himself.You'd expect an album overseen by the producer of Korn, Slipknot and At The Drive-In to be hip and heavy, and Start… is most certainly that. Many of the tracks are, in fact, wildly inventive. In the opening "The Closest", singer Terry Abbott delivers a chilling murmur while a strange buzzing flits between speakers, as Dermo's soft vocal and piano are assaulted by guitars recalling Black Sabbath's Never Say Die period. The virulently anti-cannabis "Can't Smile" has you thinking of Gavin Rossdale singing for the Sisters Of Mercy, while "Cause And Solution" is a building storm of sweeping guitars and twisting electronica, a punchy ambient techno. Though "Bully Me" lacks a strong melody, and the all-out assault of "Itch" overwhelms Abbott's sensitive vocal, this is a remarkable production job and a strong debut that raises Vex Red above Brit rock peers like Crackout and Lostprophets. They'll go far. --Dominic Wills
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