Here's another sick metalcore act from The Netherlands with a little bit more speed than usual, not to mention some vicious fucking vocal screams. The sound of the vocals is definitely unique, and when combined with the mix of tempo changes and quick songs (most less than three minutes) really makes this a pretty memorable offering. Musically there are some heavy old school hardcore chord progressions combined with a little bit of modern groove and some furious breakdowns, but the insane vocals definitely keep this from sounding like the same old same old. There are also some slick drum fills that add a little extra kick. Sure, most of the songs are pretty similar to one another, but the entire disc is less than a half-hour, so fuck it. They don't mess around. They do spice things up with an awesome cover of Wide Awake's "The Truth" though, complete with a slew of guest vocal appearances. And the closing track, "When You Visit Me in My Dreams" comes as a major shock: It's a total ballad, complete with acoustic guitars, cello, and singing vocals!? Talk about unexpected surprises... The production is almost perfect, but the rigidity of the drums is problematic enough to hold things back just a little bit. The guitars are heavy as fuck and sound excellent, the bass tone pounds away just behind the guitars and beefs up the mix, and the vocals are right in with the music. The drums sort of sound separated from everything else, though. Thankfully there is some density there, but they still pop out too much compared to the other elements, and I'd rather hear warmer, natural tones. I can't say I like the layout at all. I do like the bold band logo and the consistent color scheme, and the inside of the booklet isn't that bad, but the illustrations used on the front cover and elsewhere aren't a very fitting match for the music, and they look rather immature and out of place compared to the rest of the presentation. If I had never heard this CD and I saw it in a store I'd never expect it to be half as good as it is. Even though technically you shouldn't "judge a book by its cover", it does happen more often than anyone wants to admit. With this record the lyrics tend to stray way off the typical metalcore path. Sure, there are a few tracks with a toughguy edge, but a lot of the songs are more based around fantasy topics, sometimes inspired by Tolkien!? I can't say I've ever come across a hardcore record like that before. "Glaurung father of all dragons, and Gothmogs' Balrogs fought. Uldor betrayed the Elven host, and many men changed sides. Doom was now fully wrought, yet the troops fought with pride. Unnumbered tears were shed, Turgon to Gondolin returned. From his kin the One would be, whose radiant starlight burned." What the fuck!? I'm not really into that stuff, but whatever. This is another one worth checking out for fans of straight up metalcore the way it ought to be. It may be slowly dying in locales like the US, but Europe is still kicking ass in this department.
[Gangstyle]
Running time - 28:52, Tracks: 11
[Notable tracks: Carnage, Takin' You Down, He Who Arises in Might, The Truth]
Gangstyle Records - http://www.gangstylerecords.com
