The Dream is Dead "Taking Friendly Fire" CD
[Escape Artist]
Here's some more rhythmic and abrasive metalcore from the folks at Escape Artist. There are tons of caustic guitar textures and frantic drumming aplenty, and the shouting vocals are really strong. There's a little bit of a math rock vibe to some of the rhythms, but it's far more zany and over the top in a grindy sort of way. It's okay, but it's not really originally per se, and I don't find the songwriting to be very memorable or interesting. "The Day of the Winner" plays with some careful melodic undertones, dynamic shifts, and more forceful midpaced tempos, but aside from that this EP is sort of bland. It's just not clicking with me for whatever reason. I really like the vocals, but the vocals don't fit the music all that well... and the music is just too abrasive for its own good. The drumming is generally really solid (though I hate the senseless blasts), but the bass doesn't follow suit as often as it should, and I tend to get bored really fast whenever the guitar parts focus just as much (if not more) on playing fast chords high up on the next as they do more concrete structures. Other songs like "The Tunnel at the End of the Light" certainly have their excellent moments, but there's not enough fluidity or feeling in my opinion. The production is okay. Something's missing, but it's okay. The vocals sound good, the drums are natural, the bass is there, and the guitars are dirty without being sloppy or weak. I think louder bass might be all they need, as that would fill in the holes behind the vocals. There's some separation in there that bugs me, but it's not that bothersome. Visually everything is very consistent, using the same typeface throughout and repeating images of somewhat rough figure sketches in a light purple color. I like the band logo, but for some reason everything else bores me. The font is typical and doesn't really work well with the style of the art, the imagery is boring, etc. I find the background textures used on the CD face and under the tray far more interesting than the figures themselves. The lyrics are basically dealing with personal issues that, while not all that different from the norm, are handled a bit differently as far as wording and whatnot. "Fuck your 'I cross my heart' and the 'I promises', so sick of allowing you to paint yourself the victim. I refuse to glorify your choice to live in shit. I reject any nobility in your apathetic fucking failure. Abandoned by traitors, crucified to the fence on which you fucking sit..." If you're really into this style you might appreciate this more than I do, but for me this band would need something more to really make me turn my head. This is good, it just bores me. (5/10)
Running time - 14:16, Tracks: 5
[Notable tracks: The Day of the Winner]
Escape Artist Records - http://www.escapeartistrecords.com

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