I Hate Sally "Sickness of the Ages" CD
[Blacula]
Here's some melodic Swedish styled metalcore (mostly metal) from Canada that, while a little messy as far as the playing goes, is competently written, despite being a little bit stale and typical for the most part. I like that the vocals are lightly distorted sneers, and some of the chord progressions and harmonies are fucking great - a little bit more creative than average. But, as stated, the playing needs to be tighter in the guitar department, as some of the alternate picking riffs and dual guitar parts are a little out of synch. They keep the hardcore breakdowns and chunky stuff to a minimum though, and the half spoken vocals, which are also weak, seem to play a minimal role as well. "Iron Fist" opens with a flat out Iron Maiden riff circa "Piece of Mind" or that general era (while the gallop rhythm in "Root of All Evil" is also Maiden-esque), but it also drags on for almost eight minutes, largely instrumental with lots of harmony leads and stuff... but these guys ain't Iron Maiden, so it really gets old. In a lot of ways this sounds like a more melodic and not as professional Darkest Hour (even to the point where the drummer is a really solid performer with a knack for subtly colorful fills and patterns), but that parallel could be a little bit of a setback on some level. The layout's not bad, keeping a fairly consistent look with bleak, darkly colored artwork and clean text. The lyrics are also fairly well done, almost exclusively dealing with issues related to war and some of the socio-political relationships that are tied to it. "Never dreamt of a nuclear shower and never scraped the flesh from skin and bone. Last call for a Soviet summer, the last call, this onslaught won't back down. From fear, cold, everlasting pain, insane, hysteria, is all that still remains inside the voices left for dead..." Oh, and don't think I've overlooked the fact that these guys have one of the dumbest fucking band names I've ever heard in my life. I won't lie, I put off listening to this for a couple of weeks because I figured it was gonna be some kind of stupid ass, jokey grindcore band or something. Who the hell names their band I Hate Sally when their lyrics cover serious topics and they actually seem to care about their music? Give me a break... you mean to tell me someone out there thinks I Hate Sally is a good band name? Don't tell me the conversation actually took place, "Hey, guys, I was thinkin', let's call our band I Hate Sally," the response, "Yeah! That's awesome, dude!" Whoever this Sally is, I hate her too, but I also feel sorry for her... because she's responsible for such a shitty band name. Come on, guys. Get over this Sally fixation, practice a little harder, and you'll be a good band. You've got some chops working in your favor here... (5/10)
Running time - 46:40, Tracks: 10
[Notable tracks: Root of All Evil, Wake Up Screaming]
I Hate Sally - http://www.ihatesally.com

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