I'll pass. Yes, despite having no indication to suspect that this would be the case... these guys play melodic Swedish death metalcore that's basically by the books. The key elements that separate them from the pack are the fact that they inject some shouting vocals into the mix and their lead vocal approach is a bit nastier and more throaty than most, and as far as their riffs, they do have more energy - it's not all generic dual guitar runs and tremolo picking riffs. It's not original, and I can't say it's all that enjoyable, but I can listen to it without being too incredibly bored. They do suffer from some of the same problems as a lot of these bands, though. Mainly that the songs are often too long and there's some sloppy playing and out of key harmonizing. Some of the slow riffs are pretty fucking powerful (and I don't mean "slow riffs" as in "breakdowns" - thankfully they stray from that), and they do have some unique melodic chord progressions happening that I enjoy a lot, not to mention the acoustic and clean guitars at the start of "Flatline". I wish they would focus more on those angles than the generic Swedish styles. At the end of the disc after a useless noise track there's an unlisted cover of M?tley Cr?e's "Too Young to Fall in Love", and I must say it's pretty good, amusing sure, but it's still cool. The production is competent, but problematic enough to hold them back. The drums are overly thick and add some muddiness to the mix, the guitars are a little dirty and the pinch harmonics (which they have an overactive penchant for) have a treble bite, the vocals sound good but are dominant on some level, and I can't really make out any bass. I think the guitar tone needs to be smoother, but it's more important that the guitar players make sure they're playing in key with one another (or that they're in tune) and tighten up their picking. I don't like the layout on this one at all. Everything is in black and white, mostly a medium gray, which is fine, but it's really plain and yet the font used is really tacky and busy, and the imagery is just bland. A brief snippet of lyrics appears across the entire center spread, but they probably should've included all of the lyrics. I don't know, this is not at all an eye-catching release. This band could be very good if they would drop the overabundance of pinch harmonics and generic Swedish riffs in favor of their more creative side. I'm not sure they'll do that in the future, but they do have the means at their disposal to be a better band.
[Stereo]
Running time - 45:38, Tracks: 10
[Notable tracks: Infected, My Razorblade Romance, Too Young to Fall in Love]
Stereo Recording Co. - http://www.stereorecordingco.com
