Dead Hearts "s/t" CD
[State of Mind]
These guys play an interesting, albeit a bit trendy, blend of heavy hardcore and straight up rock 'n' roll. I like it because the songwriting is good and they're a little heavier than most of these bands, they're not shooting for a dated sounding recording or anything, but I still don't really get why this particular approach is becoming so popular right now. Included herein are three songs from the band's self-titled 7" and five from "The Words You Betray" demo, so the songs are all previously released. I'm definitely a fan of the vocals, as the all out yelling just comes off as authentically pissed to me, and that always works. "Small Town Tragedy" is a little more straightforward in its heavy approach to old school hardcore with a few octave chords providing some melody, an approach taken once more with "Dear Jane Letter" (though the melodic intro is sadly awkward). But "Forever" is more midpaced and direct and the vocal performance is fuckin' furious - this song is totally killer and absolutely represents a direction the band should explore more frequently. Fuck yeah. The tracks come from two separate recording sessions, but they used the same studio and producer for each, so the entire release sounds totally consistent, which is a nice touch. It's a little rough at the seams, but the bass presence is good, the drums sound alright, the guitars are heavy as hell, and the vocals sound killer. I think the drums need a little more natural warmth and the low-end could use more clarity, but for the most part it sounds solid. The layout looks nice and consistent with some very dark maroon and black printing and lots of subtle drips and such. The lyrics are pissed off and cover a variety of topics all tied into the day to day bullshit and hardships of life: "Look at the skyline, look at the streets, There's nothing left but shattered dreams, So are we gonna sit around, or are we gonna burn it down tonight? Burn it to the ground tonight..." I'm not blown away by this, but the songs are solid and it makes for a good listen. More importantly, I think this band has a lot of potential with their sense of energy, so if they dropped the rock 'n' roll riffs and just kept with the straightforward mixture of heavy and melodic hardcore they'd be better off. Sure, that wouldn't make 'em any more creative, but the rocked out stuff doesn't make much sense here, and for some reason it comes off as less sincere than the hardcore stuff in my opinion. "Bright Lights, Burnt City", however, infuses the rock side far more inventively, so if they can reach that balance more often I'd be all for it. I'm expecting to hear a lot more about these guys down the line... (7/10)
Running time - 14:55, Tracks: 8
[Notable tracks: Small Town Tragedy, Forever, Bright Lights, Burnt City]
State of Mind Recordings - http://www.stateofmindrecordings.com

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