Here's some more melodic metalcore that mixes heavy discordant rhythms with borderline emo/indie rock influences, and of course therefore also utilizes vocals that sway rather effortlessly from singing to screaming. The singer also plays guitar, and the drummer also does vocals, but I'm not sure how things are broken up. Meaning I can't say whether or not one vocalist handles the aggressive side and the other the singing, nor can I say whether or not the band has three guitar players all the time or if the singer just plays guitar on occasion. My guess would be that they use three guitars and have the two guys split the vocal duties pretty evenly, as there's a decent amount of guitar layering and interaction going on, and the singing voice sounds noticeably different than the screaming (but they do work very well together). I'd definitely say this is reminiscent of more recent Boy Sets Fire on occasion (notably in "Death to Traitors"), but I think Beloved is a bit more consistent - which has its positives and negatives. In some ways the record can get stale due to its consistent blend of styles (the band doesn't particularly shift dynamics so much as they do fluidly blend them into one), but at the same time there aren't any particularly bad songs here. It's not for everyone, but it's good for what it is. The production is fucking slick as hell. I don't have any complaints. It's really crisp and clear, there's a great amount of density, the mix is pretty tight, etc. The drums sound awesome, so I would prefer it if the bass were more central to the rhythm section, but it's no big deal because this thing sounds killer. After all, they did use a huge producer that's worked with a shitload of big bands. As is usually the case coming from Solid State, the layout on this fucker is worth a million bucks. Everything is printed on matte paper, the imagery and colors are consistent, the typefaces are tight and compact, not to mention clearly arranged, the imagery is interesting, etc. What makes things even more interesting here is the vellum overlay outside the booklet with its subtle white patterns, and then the booklet folds out from the center to reveal the lyrics. The lyrics are personal and generally pretty open in presentation, but they don't do that much for me. "So caught in this aimless endeavor. It's sure to leave its mark, blacked-out and beaten into our skin. Deeper now that it's sunk in. Feeding on all of the damage it's done. The deeper you look, the harder it is to find..." But musically I like this, I must admit. I've heard far worse from similar bands. So I'd just hope that this band keeps doing what they're doing and progresses with time.
[Solid State]
Running time - 44:04, Tracks: 10
[Notable tracks: Defect From Decay, Inner Pattern, Aimless Endeavor]
Solid State Records - http://www.solidstaterecords.com
