Review / 200 Words Or Less
By Night
A Shape of New Desperation

Lifeforce (2007) Kevin Fitzpatrick

By Night – A Shape of New Desperation cover artwork
By Night – A Shape of New Desperation — Lifeforce, 2007

Where to begin, where to begin... For starters they're Swedish, which would normally be a plus, but in this case it is not because they opt to sound like every other 'Mercan scream-core band you've ever heard and that's really about it. Do you like Lamb of God? Do you like every band like this that tries to sound like Lamb of God? Then you need to get out more, my friend because Lamb of God ain't that good.

But they're popular. They have their finger on the pulse of today's youth and lemme tell ya, that's a hard thing to do what with all the studded wristbands and whatnot. By Night is another cookie-cutter band with cookie-cutter songs and cookie-cutter lyrics that for the most part aren't even memorable accidentally. Buy something else. I told you they're Swedish. I told you they're lame. You need to know nothing more than that.

By Night – A Shape of New Desperation cover artwork
By Night – A Shape of New Desperation — Lifeforce, 2007

Related news

Recently-posted album reviews

Burned Up Bled Dry

Next Stop… Dead Stop…
Prank (2026)

There’s no easing into Next Stop… Dead Stop… No buildup, no warning just impact. Fayetteville, Arkansas’ Burned Up Bled Dry return from decades of dormancy with a debut full-length that feels less like a comeback and more like a long-awaited detonation. Formed in 1996 and tied to that gnarlier mid-south hardcore lineage alongside bands like His Hero Is Gone and … Read more

Blue Ash

Dinner At Mr. Billy’s
Peppermint Records (2026)

Most people treat the Blue Ash story like a collection of "almosts" and they are sure missing the point.Almost famous, almost signed, almost the American Beatles. Forget that, erase that fable from your feeble grey matter. Dinner at Mr. Billy’s—straight from the Peppermint Productions vaults—proves they weren't just "lost" contenders. They were the engine room of the Rust Belt. While … Read more

Luxury Teeth

DCxPC Live & Dead, Vol. 3
DCxPC Live (2024)

There’s something inherently appealing about a record that doesn’t try to hide what a band actually sounds like. DCxPC Live & Dead, Vol. 3 captures Luxury Teeth in two very different settings and more importantly, shows that neither version feels like a compromise. Side A, the “Live” portion, was recorded at the Ottobar in Baltimore while opening for GBH, and … Read more