A couple of years ago, the debut full-length from Time of Cholera (formerly Love in the Time of Cholera) was one of the most promising metalcore albums I had encountered in recent times. Since then, their more recent "Collapse of the Forsaken" EP has slipped past me, but this late-2006 demo recording solidifies (if not strengthens) my opinion of the band's talents, and proves once again how little justice there is in this wretched world – as any number of half-assed, mediocre-at-best metalcore acts have stumbled onto mild to moderate "success" in that time, while Time of Cholera continues to search for proper label support. I'm not saying that what they're doing is particularly inventive, because that's not really the case, but these three tracks in just about 12 minutes (the fourth track is just a brief ambient outro) provide a very solid listen that sees the band focusing their diverse range of influences into a more consistent listen. Perhaps a touch more aggressive than their debut, smatterings of discordant melody still seep into place – but don't get the wrong idea, as this is quite tactful, and I would actually guess that some of those who weren't fans of the band's earlier work would start to gain a greater appreciation for them now. In a genre that's plagued by hundreds – if not thousands – of bands that are all doing exactly the same thing, it's acts like Time of Cholera that, at least for me, set themselves apart through two very important characteristics: 1. quality songwriting, and 2. excellent recordings. I mean, sound-wise this one-day demo session easily stands up against anything you'd hear from a Trustkill- or Ferret-sized label, so what gives? There's just no reason for these cats not to have been scooped up by now. Who knows? Maybe it's the fact that they all look like normal, respectable dudes who don't do the whole bad-hair-and-way-too-tight-clothes thing… but labels that go for that shit all deserve to be burned at the stake anyway, so… I guess the quest for justice remains unending… at least for now.

Time of Cholera "Waterlunged"

I don't think this is an "official" demo per se as there's no packaging or whatnot, but you should hit these dudes up through their website or MySpace about getting your hands on some material if you dig it. And if you run a label that doesn't suck, hey, maybe you can even help 'em out?

Speaking of metalcore bands that do the bad-hair-and-way-too-tight-clothes thing, I'm shocked that I can even tolerate a band called Drop Dead, Gorgeous, but "fashion", cheesy song titles, and expectedly silly lyrical content aside, I do actually sort of enjoy a good chunk of "In Vogue" (Rise Records), believe it or not. Original? Hell motherfuckin' no. Expect the usual dose of scathing screams vs. high-pitched singing; surprisingly fierce fits of caustic dissonance and churning, chunky rhythms; and melodic smatterings bouncing around in between. The vocals can get mildly irritating on occasion, but for the most part the songwriting keeps things coming in short bursts that can hit on some cool energetic runs, and some of the technical-ish melodic metal stuff is actually pretty damn promising. No, they certainly don't really need to have a keyboard player since he relies almost entirely on piano-sounding patches and barely-audible ambient textures that don't serve the songs and only sparsely appear as it is, but such is life in the world of contemporary metalcore, eh? They're one of those bands that has it in 'em to do some damage, but they're pretty fuckin' young, and need to stray from a few more of the genre's sundry pitfalls to really maximize the end result. Not too shabby, though… it definitely has its moments.

Drop Dead, Gorgeous "Knife vs. Face Round 1"
Drop Dead, Gorgeous "In Vogue"

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