To Kill "s/t" CD
[Still Life]
Here's a quick EP of straightforward metallic hardcore from this Italian straightedge band that follows the tried and true style of taking a heavier crunch to the old school hardcore sound, so the songs are short and to the point and combine traditional hardcore rhythms with crunchy breakdowns and metallic picking patterns. The vocals are strained shouts with a pretty interesting texture to 'em, and I do think that gives the band a little bit more of an identity in some ways. "The End of the Show" has a solid breakdown and builds back in at the end with a lot of force, "Commit Suicide" is faster and changes up the rhythms quite a bit as well as tossing around a couple of discordant post-hardcore textures, and "The Course" is probably the most back to basics hardcore track of the bunch. They close with a moshed up cover of "My Life" by Sick of it All, but the liberties that they take with the initial arrangement aren't really doing much for me, and it actually sounds like the guitars went out of tune for this song as well, so... I'll pass on that. Like their full-length the recording needs a little work here in order to give the songs the power they really need. The drums are too thin and clicky, and the guitars aren't really heavy enough either. The vocals sound pretty damn good, but I'd like to hear louder, more defined basslines, thicker guitars, and warmer percussion if at all possible. The layout keeps it simple with a couple of dirty textures over bleak imagery and the lyrics across the center spread. That's all there is to it. The lyrics of course deal with betrayal and fighting for what's rightfully yours and all that, so there's nothing new there. I'm not sure what else to say here. At merely eight minutes in length there's not that much to go on here, and since the band isn't doing anything new they definitely need to garner a more forceful set of production values in order to really leave a mark. I have no quarrels with their songwriting, I definitely dig this style of metalcore and I think these guys do it well, it's just not quite at the level where it's really doing significant damage just yet. (6/10)
Running time - 8:09, Tracks: 4
[Notable tracks: End of the Show, Commit Suicide]
Still Life Records - http://www.stillliferecords.com

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