‘The goddamn state you’re in, this is not how life should be’.
So, I find myself strolling along Nu-Metal Avenue, for the first time in a long time, and today we meet Profiler, straight outta Bristol, this rugged three piece present their full length debut release, from under the protective wings of Sharptone Records.
Leading from the front we have Mike Evans – vocals/guitar, Joe Johnson – bass/vocals, Brad Ratcliffe – drums in what began as a solo project, is now powered, and primed to face the world.
We start with ‘All in Forever’ typical of the Grunge era, fully laden with licks and tricks, but it is the outro that will haunt me forever. The agonising ‘ I know you won’t be there for me’ utterly cruel and hurtful but a harsh reality for some people.
The fusing of styles, the metallic clanging, the coarsely ground murmurings, and mutations that are warped, they all meld into one cohesive collectable outing.
You get a flavourful mix of 90’s Grunge, Rap metal and fruity, sensitive tones usually reserved for our hair metal and Emo friends, that divert your attention from the harshness, and lay you down gently on the grass, to then be pulled up by the roots as the pit calls come barking at you from out of the microphone. Try this for size ‘stop freaking out, right here, right now, freestyle’ pent up, intense and glowing with ire and angst, potent and provocative.
We go from hero to ‘Zero’ a skydive that is out of control, the online world is a virtual treasure trove, the reason why our phones are superglued to our hands.
With videos that pop and spit, crackling static that pierces your frontal lobe, flashing Day-Glo that peppers the screen, adding to the velocity and cacophonous capacity presented here.
The album talks about the dangers of modern technology and how it has infiltrated our lives. We have become utterly dependent on our phones, on social media, we are duped by the photos, we are reduced to hopelessness when we cannot compete with others. We are fooled by the duplicity, we are engrossed to the point of losing what really matters, and consequently losing our minds and our reality. We are headed on a road that will lead us to nowhere, by the time we reach this most corrosive and venal destination, it will be too late.
The album closer is ‘Sequence’ and I love the words ‘we will make it out of this, away from all the complicated people’ after the unbearable strife, there is light, there is relief, there is anticipation for a better time.
Fix up now my friends, let this be a warning, let this be a lesson that you heed, the profiler has analysed and put forward his recommendations, the answer is here, ultimately the decision is yours.
Azra Pathan
Profiler – A Digital Nowhere out now via Sharptone Records