ALBUM REVIEW: Eye Of The Fighter – Fighter

Upcoming Portuguese rock band FIGHTER have just put out their debut album Eye Of The Fighter. The band themselves only released their debut single a year ago and now they’re here ready with a debut full-length – already an impressive feat if you ask us – so with that said, how is their first full outing? In short: fantastic!

FIGHTER waste zero time when they open with Contemplate, a song that immediately kicks off with a fast punk intro that you can’t help but find yourself bopping along to with a smile on your face. For comparison, the song seems to take influence from 90s pop-punk, more specifically the likes of GREEN DAY and THE OFFSPRING, with elements also taken from the 2000s alt-rock scene. With all that, plus a solid bridge and mini guitar breakdown, FIGHTER have made themselves known and they are not ready to stop.

One thing to notice throughout the record is that lead vocalist Nuno Beirão sounds almost identical to Mark Hoppus which brings in a lot of comparison to BLINK-182 as seen on tracks such as Hate; Struggle, which is an anthemic rock song with catchy lyrics that one can easily picture being sung back at a live show; and September which could be easily mistaken for a lost BLINK track with the sing along “ohs” and alt-rock breakdown. It’s a track we could easily see being on the track list for their self-titled album.

That’s not to say that FIGHTER are a BLINK-182 clone as they bring in elements from other genres and draw comparison to other familiar names; Love (the twin song to Hate) feels heavily influenced by early 2000s rock, more specifically the likes of PAPA ROACH and THREE DAYS GRACE, with headbanging instrumentals and anthemic lyrics to perfectly match; We Want You is a fast punk track that could easily start a mosh pit with lyrics urging people to stand up and fight against corruption in politics; and concluding track Deadline has a more fun modern rock style with an abrupt ending consisting of a heart monitor that steadily beats before flatlining – certainly an intriguing way to end an album.

Eye Of The Fighter is a rather short but sweet record that is catchy and screams of nostalgic without falling into copycat territory. It’s one of those albums that you could put on in a low mood and soon you’ll find yourself smiling with all your worries gone. It’s a strong debut from FIGHTER, we can’t wait to see what’s to come next.

Rating: 8/10

Eye Of The Fighter is out now via Amazing Records.

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