Album Review by Mark Bayross
The curiously-named Thumb are a German nu-metal band who have just landed a support slot with the mighty Machine Head here in the UK. As a result, their (you guessed it) third album has been released over here to coincide with the live dates. Although well-known in Europe and the US (they played on the ’98 Vans Warped Tour in the States), this will be the first time UK audiences get a chance to hear them.
There’s a song on here ominously called MIGRAINE but fortunately the five-piece combine power and melody in much the same way as their sometime tour-mates the Deftones – they even have the requisite turntable maestro in the line-up. Each of the album’s 13 songs delivers an impressive maelstrom of searing guitars and frantic scratching, but never loses the sight of the tune.
Much of this is down to Claus Grabke’s voice, which has the power to stamp some kind of personality over the quasi-industrial backing (check YOUTH), while songs like THUMBTUNE find the band in a more playful, mess-around-with-the-decks mode. Unsurprisingly, DOWN LIKE ME has already been a chart hit in their native land.
No, this ain’t original – there are enough Papa Roaches and Alien Ant Farms around already – but it’s hard to ignore the intensity of tracks like the hyper-taut LIE TO YOU. If anything, Thumb are guaranteed to get the kids bouncing like lunatics when they support Robb Flynn’s crew in December 2001.
