Redline/Born From Pain "split" CD
[Gangstyle]
Here's a split CD EP with three tracks each from New Jersey's Redline and Holland's Born From Pain. Redline starts things out with some brutal metalcore complete with vicious vocal screams. It's not bad, but honestly it's a little bit bland. I like the fact that the songs are straightforward and heavy, but despite the compositions being relatively short they don't really hold my interest as the band seems to rely on slow, pounding breakdowns too often. The dissonance and subtle melody amongst the power chords of "10 Years Passed" definitely sticks out and adds in some well needed variety, though. The production is okay, I just don't like the rigidity of the drumming. Everything else forms a nice, thick wall of sound where the vocals drop right back into the center, but the drumming cuts straight through and disrupts the listen a little bit. A little more bass presence would also be cool, but the only necessity would be to fix up that drum recording. The lyrics aren't really my thing. It's sort of the typical macho bravado kind of stuff. "I am your god when you step into my life, I run this shit, Fall to your knees and learn to respect me, Pain from the past in my eyes, This is my time." Born From Pain throws down some crushing material that is held back only by an incredibly weak and sloppy recording that is absolutely no match for the great sound that they had on their most recent full-length. They need a lot more clarity to pull things off, and this mix isn't doing it for 'em. The guitar tone is messy, the bass is inaudible, the drums are in the distance, and the vocals sound muffled. That's pretty much all it takes to make a few solid tracks lose all force. A damn shame. Here the lyrics explore similar topics to their other material, sort of leaning towards an apocalyptic angle: "Hell has come to earth, Pain pours from staring eyes, Man and beast become one, Where justice has long died, Searching for reason, Forever finding its grave, Sanity becomes abandoned, None of us that will be saved, As I watch it burn..." As far as the layout, I really like the front cover, but that's about it. The rest of the layout is too busy (mainly due to the fonts) and lacks the clean design of the cover. It's not awful, but whatever. This split might have been rushed, I can't say for sure, but the outcome is less than memorable. Redline didn't particularly impress me, and I know that Born From Pain can do a lot better than this because I've heard better from them already, so... (5/10)
Running time - 15:25, Tracks: 6
[Notable tracks: 10 Years Passed, Reclaiming the Crown]
Gangstyle Records - http://www.gangstylerecords.com

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