Punishment "Broken But Not Dead" CD
[Thorp]
Damnit, someone please get this band into a good studio with a good producer, because they keep getting better but their records all sound like crap. The songwriting here is a shitload better than their last full-length, busting out tons of brutal metalcore rhythms ranging from the slow mosh breaks to the faster and more obvious hardcore influences, to some Slayer-esque metal riffs and vocals that jump from low growls to vicious screams. It sounds to me like All Out War mixed with a more traditional NYHC type of sound. They close out with an unlisted Killing Time cover too, and you can't lose with that. Definitely good stuff. But the production is not up to par at all. I mean, this really and truly sounds like a good demo recording to me. It's just too dry and raw for this style. There's barely any bass guitar in the mix, the guitars lack crunch, the drums are mixed louder and clearer than everything else, etc. They just need a somehow more polished sound. Not perfect, just more well rounded and bright than this. The layout looks pretty slick, though. There's a lot of white space used, along with lots of overlapping photos of various urban cityscapes and such. The text is clean and compactly arranged as well, so I don't have any issues there. The lyrics can be pretty bleak ("Life and fair the two words that were never meant together," or "We gotta knuckle up sometimes not looking for trouble just doing our thing we won't back down to you looks like you'll be leaking.") but there are certain undertones of "hope", I guess, in the form of persevering and that sort of thing. Fuck, I really want to get into this band, and I know I'd be all over this if they could nail a better sound, but they've yet to get it down. This is a huge step up form the last record in my opinion, there's more energy (just check out "Penance", that shit is right on) and everything flows better, and my ears do slightly adjust to the recording after about six or seven tracks, but nonetheless... it just needs something more to be fully effective. (5/10)
Running time - 28:00 (approximately), Tracks: 13
[Notable tracks: Raised High, Penance, Telltale]
Thorp Records - http://www.thorprecords.com

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