Heartscarved "Epilogue" CD
[Tribunal]
This "cleverly" titled EP comes as Heartscarved's final release. Even though I liked this band's last record and thought they had the potential to outshine their competition, I can't say I'm sad to see them go. Especially because the ass-like recording of these three songs really ruins any redeeming qualities they would otherwise possess. The drums sound atrocious (clearly not machines, but they might as well be), the vocals are way too far up front, the guitars are heavy on the crunch but not smooth enough, the bass is absent 99% of the time (leaving some enormous gaps in its wake)... and this basically sounds like a mediocre demo recording. Sorry, but that's the truth. Musically this is above average Swedish death metal gone metalcore, but aside from a few powerful rhythms and solid harmonies this stuff is a lot more derivative than the songs on "...And Tomorrow We Escape" were. There's too much stagnant tremolo picking, the bulk of the dual guitar runs are totally generic, the songs drag on for too long, etc. "Patrick Bateman" is by far the best song: Offering up some great odd timed death metal riffing and unique chord formations that loosely bring to mind Atheist or something a bit more creative, some great leads, awesome singing vocals, and then some. But god damnit, this production... it's a real fucking killer. I'm not kidding. Even the clean break in the song, which is pretty damn nice, sounds completely fucked up... I can't even explain it. But what the fuck is up with the way out of tune clean guitars and horrible keyboards in "Sixtyfivescenepoints"? Fuck, just when I thought things were looking up... they go and pull something like that. I do like the layout. The colors are especially nice, and the consistent font looks very cool as well. The crisp and warm photo on the back of the booklet is definitely my favorite, though the front cover is a close second. The lyrics are personal and I'd say slightly above average for the genre. "I'm involved in something I believe in, yet it's moving on at a very slow pace. This is all I want to do for the rest of my life. Sometimes it's all that makes me happy. Other times it makes me insane. Perhaps the answer is in my heart and I'm too impatient to see it." In some ways it is a shame to see one of the few promising bands of the genre go out on a low note like this, but what ca you do? The true crime is that no less than 10 bands that truly suck will pop up in their place... (3/10)
Running time - 17:46, Tracks: 3
[Notable tracks: Patrick Bateman]
Tribunal Records - http://www.tribunalrecords.com

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