"Welcome to the heart of the revolution. Free my soul" roars Yap as One Minute Silence fire on all cylinders around him. This is a band on the cusp of crossing over into the major league and fuelling them on all the more is that fact that me might not have a planet to be part of the major league on for much longer if Bush and Blair continue the so called war against terrorism. This club tour is a pre-war call up for all those hardcore OMS fans to take stock of the situation and get ready for February 15th where as significant number of people will be in the capital as part of the Stop The War protest to show Blair just how strongly we really do feel.

One Minute Silence have always been political. It's ingrained in their souls and whether some cynical hack chooses to dismiss them as a RATM tribute band it's simply their loss. What's certain is that One Minute Silence are the most relevant band and voice we have in rock music right now. Two years ago you could possibly have written them off as appealing to a few lefties, but now it's clearer than ever that they simply speak for everyone. Were all in agreement when Gary spits "Your leader is telling the Firemen the country can't afford to pay them enough money to live on...and they're going to war, killing innocent people and costing you billions of pounds" and it's not simply because we spent our days reading political texts. It's because deep down regardless of whether you can write a university thesis on politics or whether you can barely read and write deep down you know that our Western leaders are as corrupt as they come.

It seems almost insignificant to mention the music when were on  the brink of war. But playing a even split between the old material such as "Holy Man", "Fish Out Of Water" and "1845" next to the new songs off "One Lie Fits All" album. With the influence of John Leckie on production duties there's more of an emphasis on Massi's intricate melodies, while Eddie Stratton delivers more of his unique drum timings. Lyrically it's hard to make out on just the one listen, but last time we spoke to Yap he was talking about a very Anti-American / Anti Corporate message so it's safe to say that the fire is still in their bellies. Regardless of whether you like OMS's music, the message is impossible to ignore!!!

Alex McCann