Review: Scare Don’t Fear – From the Ground Up
Artist: Scare Don’t Fear
Album: From the Ground Up
Rating: 8.5/10
If you know anyone who is in a band or has been in a band, you will know that they don’t have an easy career path at all. You start out with little-to-no fanbase and have to live paycheck to paycheck while trying to find ways to get to the next gig. It’s the bands who really strive and put themselves out there, though, that are the most successful. It may take years and years of playing clubs, bars and garages to get to that point but you have to build “From the Ground Up”. In a world where nu-metal is slowly taking back over, Providence, RI’s Scare Don’t Fear stands out above the rest. My friend Eddie Wisner has described them as “nu-metal meets Beastie Boys” and, while I don’t FULLY agree, I can definitely see where he’d draw that comparison. The band, signed to Ben Bruce’s KBB Records, has gone through worlds of hate, disgust and negativity to get to where they are. As all bands should, though, this just pushes them harder and harder, resulting in their debut album, From the Ground Up.
It’s not an easy thing mixing the rap and metal. It’s even harder mixing these genres and managing to keep originality but, outside of the Beastie Boys reference, I really don’t know of any band I can compare to SDF. Vocalists Chris Jungles and Frankie Screamz can go from a destructive track like “Rebuild” to a straight-up dope rap track like “Someone To Talk To”, which is honestly one of my favorites on the album. When it comes to instrumentals, it’s really the beats and the electronics that keep you interested as the guitar work is semi-generic but mixes well with these. Lyrically, this album speaks of humble beginnings, the hate they’ve faced and how they rose above it all. There’s something for every fan and can just as easily drag a metal fan in as a rap fan. Some key tracks are the first single, “City of Skeletons”, “Rebuild”, “Someone to Talk To” and the extremely addictive “No 9 to 5”.
In short, this album is filled with bangers from front to back. Whether it be beats, instrumentals or deadly flow this album has it all. It feels a bit lacking in terms of originality on the guitar work. I could easily see some of these tracks being put on sports games, racing games or just tearing up hip-hop radio! If you haven’t picked up your copy of From the Ground Up yet, I suggest you go out and do so, out on KBB Records now!
