A Perfect Murder "Cease to Suffer" CD
[Goodfellow]
It should come as little surprise that this is melodic Swedish styled metalcore from Canada. It may come as a surprise, however, that this is actually pretty god damn good. It's not blaringly innovative, and it does have a few minor drawbacks, but for the most part I'd rank A Perfect Murder among the select few bands that are doing something within these confines that I can definitely appreciate. Unlike most of these acts they offer up an equal mix of straight up burly metalcore (lots of chugging mosh and raging breakdowns) and the more tactful sides of the melodic Swedish arena (i.e. not just a bunch of useless tremolo picking) within concise songs that pack a punch. Among their strengths are the blazing solos (Thank you!), the creative chord progressions and rhythm patterns, and the fact that they utilize midrange vocal shouts rather than the typical sneering high screams. I wouldn't call this generic in my opinion. It sort of sounds like Earth Crisis meets Darkest Hour - and I mean that as literally as possible. I'm not saying parts sound like one band or the other, but that their writing style and delivery literally sounds like a complete fusion of those two bands' individual styles (with a dash of Damnation A.D. tossed in for good measure). The recording is the only thing holding this back from being a bit more in your face and pummeling, though it's really only a few notches off from being right on target. I wouldn't touch the vocals, and I might not do much to the bass or drums either, but the guitars need to be heavier and thicker for sure. Upping the bass and using slightly warmer percussion tones would help, but the bottom line is that the guitars need more density and crunch to really let these riffs shine - especially during the moshier moments. The guitar tone works pretty nicely as is for the slick dual guitar harmonies and lead lines, but the rhythms need that weight behind 'em. I don't mind the layout. It's nice and simple, but the colors work, the textures work, and I like the crisp fonts as well. There's only one band photo and minimal space is wasted elsewhere, plus all of the lyrics are included. I rarely expect anything from this genre from a lyrical standpoint, and honestly this disc does absolutely nothing to change my mind about that. "I've lost, Broken by the scars, Emptied by the tears, This life is never kind, I've got nothing to fight for." This is worth a shot if you're into brutal yet melodic metalcore with good sense. Only one of these songs tops three minutes and the entire record is perfectly succinct, so it's not at all boring. I'm expecting interesting work from these guys down the road. Not bad at all. (7/10)
Running time - 26:39, Tracks: 12
[Notable tracks: Cease to Suffer, Laughed at My Pain, Lost it All, Interlude]
Goodfellow Records - http://www.goodfellowrecords.com

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