Prayer for Cleansing "The Tragedy" CD
[Surprise Attack]
The vegan straightedge Prayer for Cleansing came up just before the start of the whole melodic Swedish death metalcore boom and for some reason ended up being hugely popular. I was never blown away by their material, though they did possess enough of an edge to stand out from the deluge of similar sounding bands that followed, but they broke up four years ago after only one full-length record. This succinct EP was recorded in 2004 after the band's reunion show and includes re-recordings of older unreleased songs that were previously only available via the internet as raw demo recordings or something of that nature. Like their prior recorded work this is metalcore that's far more metal than anything, combining all forms of melodic Swedish death metal with rhythmic chunkiness, light dashes of technicality and odd time signatures, and vocals that range from growls to snarls. "When the Sun Kisses the Morning" is by far the standout on this EP, dropping shitloads of emphatic dual guitar harmonies and chunky breakdown riffing with nice dual guitar interaction. It's just a damn well written tune that perfectly displays the energy level that this genre so often lacks. Also included is a cover of "Salvation" by The Cranberries, which opens promisingly and picks back up for the chorus with some awesome singing vocals layered against the snarls, but sadly the excessive tremolo picking in some of the verse parts is rather stale, so that deadens the otherwise forceful melodic chord progressions quite a bit. Overall it's still a great cover, though. Opener "Closet" is a little more technical and death metal oriented in its riffing, but the structure of the piece is too disjointed and relies on some black metal-esque tremolo picking passages that do nothing for me... so the other two songs are much more interesting. And thankfully this EP does sound a ton better than the band's full-length. It's still a little raw, but fuck it. Everything is clear and it sounds suitable. The drums are pretty much in check, the vocals are fine, the bass peaks out just a touch (they never did seem to give the bass enough room), and the guitars have a dry crunch that can occasionally sound too unnatural on some of the standalone lines but works well for the palm-muting rhythms. The disc comes in an impressive matte sleeve that's diecut all over the place and folds together in an odd envelope sort of manner. Inside is an insert for lyrics and song explanations, and everything is printed in dark blue ink on light blue stock. The lyrics are bleak as hell, dealing with pretty intense personal issues close to the band. The wordy nature of lines like, "The wind kisses leaves, but brings no cogent recompense." can be a little stale, but it seems they're trying to convey pretty brutal emotions without being too direct about the specifics inspiring them. I've never cared for the band's lyrics and I still don't, but the explanations herein do give indications of just how serious the content really is behind all of the metaphors. The EP is also available on sweet split colored vinyl (half green, half orange) in a similar diecut sleeve with the same overall print job, it just doesn't fold together like an envelope on the 7" version. I'm still not overly impressed by these guys, but this EP does prove that they would've done some damage had they continued. I imagine these songs weren't altered much from their original form, and having been written years ago they don't offer too much significance in regards to how the band has progressed since that time - but the recording and performances do reflect that progression, so I'm sure the band's many fans will flip out over this one. I like it, but it's still nothing truly special to my ears. "When the Sun Kisses the Morning" is pretty fuckin' great, though. (6/10)
Running time - 11:02, Tracks: 3
[Notable tracks: When the Sun Kisses the Morning, Salvation]
Surprise Attack Records - http://www.surpriseattackrecords.com

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