Analog "The Contention" CD
[Imagine It]
Son of a bitch. What's with all these fucking bands lately dropping the misleading intros now? "The Marrow" opens with nothing but layered guitar harmonies, and there are a shitload of guitars in there, bordering on an epic "...And Justice For All" style of harmonization. And then what they do? They go and fucking slide into totally derivative metalcore with screaming vocals, lots of dissonance, some melodic Swedish influences, rhythmic grooves and straightforward mosh rhythms, and all that other shit you've heard a million times before. And the recording is all fucked up too. It's not awful, but it's really weak and ineffective. The drums sound alright but are a little bit flimsy and they're mixed slightly unevenly, the bass tone is audible but lacks density, the guitars are thin and ragged, and the vocals sort of dominate because they have the most well rounded tonality. I like the mix overall, but the guitars and bass need way more thickness. When they slow it down and get a little melodic, sometimes even messing with clean guitars, they sound pretty damn good, but the generic metalcore stuff is completely lacking in force and does nothing for me. I like the layout a lot because it's simple, but nice and clean, with easily legible text, interesting imagery and textures, etc. The lyrics are largely personal, but some of the songs have more of a commentary wrapped up in them, which is nice. "Under the blankets of this clouded city lies a utopian machine just waiting to be hatched. And someday our unsuspecting eyes will crave more than these trivial daily functions we've forced upon ourselves. We've dreamt these transient dreams of self satisfaction for far too long..." I don't know. I'm pissed as shit that the intro kicks ass and the rest of the CD is boring as fuck. A handful of the melodic riffs are nice, but the rest of it's pretty horrible. I'll pass. (3/10)
Running time - 27:35, Tracks: 8
[Notable tracks: none of 'em are that hot]
Imagine It Records - http://www.imagineitrecords.com

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