Spiritus Sancti "Human Unknown" CD
[Full House]
Here's some melodic Swedish styled metalcore from Finland. I hate to say it, but I'm a little bit disappointed that this style of metalcore is spreading all over the place now. I wasn't expecting this release to sound like this at all, but it basically sounds like what's all the rage with American metalcore bands right now. The main difference being that these guys use a rougher style of shouting vocals and their songwriting is a bit more powerful - based largely around the simple heaviness and dual guitar harmonies of the "Slaughter of the Soul" style meets earlier In Flames. I like some of their riffs a lot, but I have a hard time getting over the fact that they're so unoriginal, and the songs also tend to drag on for too long and get sort of boring. When your tracks run from three to four minutes and they feel like they're dragging, there are some issues that need to be dealt with. In this case I think it's the lack of variety and the lack of tempo changes. I think the production holds this particular release back more than it's lack of individuality, though. The guitars sound pretty good, but the drumming is way too rigid, the bass is hard to make out, and there are a lot of separations in the mix. I sort of get used to it after awhile, but the rigidity of the drums is a constant annoyance that prevents the guitars from carrying the material. They need to beef everything up a bit and warm up the mix to clear up the separation between the instruments. The layout is very minimal. The front and back covers are in color with images of stone in the background, and inside everything is black and white with a few band photos and lyrics handwritten on graph paper. I'm not that into the lyrics, they don't really say so much: "Trapped on the other side, Feel the agony conquers me, No ending, no beginning, Will I be a case for the homicide, Now that my hands are under the knife..." That sort of gives you an idea, and track titles like "Bull's Eye" and "Ricochet" sort of continue that whole angle. I don't know. I won't rule out a solid record from these guys in the future, as they definitely have some abilities, but this one's not really doing much for me. (5/10)
Running time - 29:55, Tracks: 8
[Notable tracks: Deeper Deeper Down, Human Unknown]
Full House Records - http://www.fullhouserecords.com

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