"The Lost, the Sick, the Sacred", the Solid State debut from Inhale Exhale, is indeed yet another metalcore record that blends harsh screaming and soaring singing over a musical backdrop that runs a gamut of influences – from the dominant presence of chunky rhythms and lead lines that never shed their penchant for melody to a subtly post-hardcore sense of dissonance, occasional forays into a slightly sludgier attack, and even some thrashy picking patterns with more of an openly metallic edge. It's nothing particularly inventive, but good songs are good songs, and I can still appreciate this kind of thing under the right circumstances. And hey, there aren't really any melodic Swedish riffs happening, so that's at least one check in the "on the right track" column for these cats. But I actually find a number of the songs to possess a really strong sense of energy, and even though the singing passages might be a little too "glossy" for some, I dig the vocal harmonies and all that, and since I don't find the screaming to be irritating either the vocal performance works out fairly well. True, they could push for a little more variety from track to track, but the songs tend to be around three to four minutes apiece, with a total running time of less than 40 minutes, so it's a decently paced listen when all is said and done. Of course, as is generally the case when Solid State is involved, the recording is super pro, with a balanced mix and slickly polished tones that lend a modern sense of oomph – and an arguably "mainstream" tinge – to the delivery, which is fine by me because, as I said: Good songs are good songs, so a solid recording ain't hurtin' anyone in my book. The layout's pretty awesome, too – another staple of the Solid State catalog. Not bad. I like it.

Inhale Exhale "By Grace"
Inhale Exhale "A Call to the Faithful"

Make the grab if you're not afraid to admit that you can get into this kind of thing:

@ Solid State

More such metalcore comes on "Sirens" (Trustkill), the sophomore full-length from It Dies Today. Ignoring the band's "fashion-y" look that I just can't hang with, I did think their first record had some potential (though in hindsight its incredibly weak and irritating recording wasn't all that needed work), but thankfully this album totally eclipses their debut in every way. The recording sounds like a million bucks by comparison – with a clear, punchy mix; plenty of low-end behind the dense crunch of the guitars; and an overall polish that really works well for this style of metalcore – like it or not. Writing-wise they're still operating within the same general niche of blending blatantly melodic riffing with super moshy breakdowns and, of course, both hoarse shouts/sneers and singing – high-flying vocal harmonies and all. However, they've focused much more attention on writing cohesive, catchy material – which means they've erased a good percentage of the melodic Swedish death metal riffing that littered their debut. Such influences still play a role here and there, but it's far less blatant, and that pays off big time with regard to the overall listening experience. Again, it's nothing I'd refer to as original or what have you, but it's a good record, and the songwriting is among the better that I've encountered from this more "friendly" area of the genre. Of course, it was just announced a few days ago that these dudes lost their vocalist, so… I'm not sure if his replacement will pull it off, but… who knows?

It Dies Today "Sacred Heart (Sacre Coeur)"
It Dies Today "Sixth of June"

Same deal, pick one up if you're a real man (or woman) who can admit that some of this stuff does the trick:

@ Trustkill
@ RevHQ
@ Very Distribution