Released: 2009
"One Thousand Ways to Be" is the debut EP for Adelaide thrash quintet Se Bon Ki Ra. After five years or so together, they've been kicking around for a while and have done plenty of opening spots for touring bands and played some higher profile shows. The five songs here presented show a good band with a solid grip on the modern thrash genre, with thick guitars, coarse vocals and heavy grooves. That being said, the EP is probably just a little bit too generic to really stand out among the other bands that are also doing this equally as well.
Out of the five tracks, the title cut is undoubtedly the highlight as it creeps and builds from a slow acoustic intro towards heavy twin-guitar melodic thrash metal. This is clearly Se Bon Ki Ra's best song, and one that's so good it outshines every other track on the EP. The rest aren't bad by any stretch of the imagination, but they just seem to suffer from a lack of a real original flair or a truly memorable hook. Stylistically, they sound to me a little like a less-technical version of Switchblade (who in turn often remind me of Arch Enemy), especially the croaky vocals of Chad Cosgrove, but currently don't have that band's now keenly-developed sense of catchy songwriting.
Se Bon Ki Ra aren't lacking in a few ideas however, as the epic and outstanding title track and the closing section of "Shades of Hate" show. Yet while they can unquestionably play and have clear potential, "One Thousand Ways to Be" hasn't quite captured it. The next release will be better.
- Lesser Than
- Chasing the Vulnerable
- One Thousand Ways to Be
- Deconstruction Therapy
- Shades of Hate
Rating: 68%
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