Scalping Screen "Blood Out" CD
[Gods Child]
Here's another vicious metallic hardcore band from Finland that builds around a foundation that's a fast and in your face brand of pretty straightforward NYHC styled material that branches out into a slew of other influences and little nuances for added diversity - but everything stays rooted in basic rhythmic chords and a variety of different picking patterns and tempos.  The vocals are mainly a flat out yelling, at times heading into a lower sort of almost growl or even a few hints at gruff singing (see the awesome "Lot to Lose").  I don't think the growling stuff is particularly necessary, but I really like the guy's shouting voice a lot - it's pretty average in style, but it's very fucking effective.  Only one song hits three minutes and they keep things moving nicely, and I really like the little dissonant chords that seep in from time to time to add a quick dash of variation.  "Misanthrope" switches it up from moshy hardcore to slower and more death metal oriented riffing in the blink of an eye, the aforementioned "Lot to Lose" is catchier and more energetic, "Deny the Truth" brings in some thrashy speeds, "Battlefield" hits on a few vaguely hip-hop styled vocal arrangements, and "Payback" throws in some quick tremolo picking that has a little hint of Florida death metal - but for just seconds at a time!  The slow, thick melodic arpeggios in "Time is Running Out" are fucking awesome, so I have to single that stuff out and mention that I'd kill to hear such elements explored further in this material.  The recording's not bad, but the guitar tone is a little weird so it could use some work.  The bass sounds slick but needs to be a little more prominent, the vocals sound pretty damn good, and I can deal with the drums even though certain elements sound a little flimsy.  The guitars are really heavy, but they've got a majorly overloaded sense of low-end going on, which not only drowns out some of the actual basslines, but creates a thumpy and overbearing edge to a lot of the palm-muting and feels a little distant and muddy as a result.  So a more balanced guitar tone that would fill the space better would really make this sound killer.  The layout looks pretty damn good.  The cover has too much of a computerized thing going on in some ways and is the weakest link, but the band photos are professional, the abstract layered imagery looks cool, and the text is ultra crisp.  Lyrically the material is a little longer than average, but deals with your usual topics of bitterness and hatred and persevering through it all: "Still every day is a fight and it will be 'til the fuckin' day I die, And if it's up to me it goes on for awhile, because surviving is a way to revenge, especially to the ones who didn't want me here in the first place, To the ones who released my rage..."  In scarce instances the songwriting may seem a little disjointed, but these guys definitely sound different from a lot of the other Finnish bands I've heard, and it's cool that they can go from sounding like Madball or Merauder to the Rag Men or Second to None (and no, those bands don't sound all that similar to one another, any fan of this style will know that).  Being a major, major fan of the Finnish metallic hardcore scene I have to confess being slightly biased towards liking this disc, so I am giving the rough spots the benefit of the doubt here because I like the songwriting and think they're shooting for something true to form that's not generic.  They need to work out a few kinks, but this is generally solid work, and I definitely feel like the writing here has a lot going for it.  I'll look forward to hearing more from this band. (7/10)
Running time - 33:09, Tracks: 13
[Notable tracks: Lot to Lose, Battlefield, Nowhere to Run, Payback]
Gods Child Music - http://www.godschild.com.hk

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