Album Notes

Formed in Autumn 2000 from the ashes of Belfast based act Shakedown, and including ex Consume members, Stand-Up Guy wasted no time in establishing a fearsome reputation on the Northern Irish gig circuit. Their blistering live performances soon garnished some lavish press attention and in June 2001 they released their first demo “Has Anything You’ve Done Made Your Life Better?” to nationwide critical acclaim. The CD was voted Demo of the month in the November 2001 issue of Terrorizer magazine. Irish tours with Medulla Nocte and Dawncore followed and in 2002 they released their follow-up ep “Immobiliare.” More gigging followed, including shows with Murder 1 and a very successful 4 date tour in Scotland. 2003 saw them solidify their position as one of the most hardworking live acts in the UK, capped by a very well received 9 date tour of Scandinavia in September of that year.

The band signed with Distortion Project records in January 2004, and the result of this marriage is the very CD you hold in your hands right now. Recorded at one-zero-zero studios in Belfast, “In Fixation, Conspire," contains 9 songs of emotional, honest music tinged with a brooding intensity not matched by any other band in this genre. This CD contains 50 minutes of swirling, jarring riffage, off-kilter rhythms and inspiring vocals. It’s an album that ebbs and flows from start to finish and highlights a range of feelings, from anger to sadness and from bitterness to despair. “In Fixation, Conspire” is a journey of the soul, which the listener is drawn into as the album progresses with each track. The range of styles displayed on the release is stunning, and this highlights the quality of musicianship on offer. ‘Burning Paper In Bleeding Hand’ would be equally at home on national radio, with its soaring vocal dynamics and melodic guitar, whereas ‘The Constant Gossip Of The Workplace’ with its vicious vocals and doom-laden rhythms would be considered extreme, even within the metal genre. This cutting edge metallic sound is backed up by some very striking imagery. These are serious musicians, who are concerned less about style, trends, etc and more about the actual quality of the music they produce.