This is some brutal metallic hardcore/punk from Finland that revolves around moderately paced tempos and crushing rhythms with a multi vocal attack that ranges form high screams to midrange shouts and low growls. There's definitely a sense of dark melody to the songwriting, but they don't beat you over the head with anything - in fact, even the guitars aren't half as heavily distorted as most bands of this nature, they really give the instruments room to breathe. Loose comparisons to His Hero is Gone are unavoidable, but I would not at all place too great an emphasis on that, it's simply a point of reference, because there's a lot of other stuff going on here. Take for example the lush clean break in "From Despair Within" with layers of vocals going off in the distance with some forceful percussive patterns. "Seeds and Soil" is the most explosive track: It's louder, faster, more energetic... it's still got a bit of a dismal edge to it, but overall it kicks things in the ass and makes for a great closer. The recording is pretty fucking great. I love the clarity of the mix, the drums sound great, the bass is there, and the guitars are textured without being too heavy or generic. I think the vocals could be mixed back in with the music a bit more though, especially the higher screams. And "Seeds and Soil" sounds like it was mastered a lot louder than the other two tracks, which I might have preferred to hear differently. Those are my only suggestions. They've done very well. The layout's not bad. Spanning the front and back covers is an image of a dead body in the water (surprise), and even though it looks like it was taken off of a website (pixilated), they seem to have worked with that and possibly fucked with it a bit more to make it look purposeful. Inside are some high contrast black and white images/textures with lyrics and contact information. Lyrically things seem to take the political-gone-personal approach, where the presentation has some underlying socio-political commentary, but it's subtle and wrapped in personal thoughts or feelings. "Hope needed, rope received, The crumbling pedestal leaves us a pile of dust to breathe, Silent consent, masses breeds masses, Desperation no day without a feeling of confusion, I'm running on second chances countless times, Well salted wounds ain't numbless yet, feels fucking annoying, The crumbling pedestal leaves us a pile of dust to breathe, Hope needed, rope received." This is a damn fine 7" from a band to watch... I think that if they continue to focus on their more creative and less typical elements they'll hit the jackpot.
[Thrash and Burn]
Running time - 10:00 (approximately), Tracks: 3
[Notable tracks: From Despair Within, Seeds and Soil]
Thrash and Burn - http://www.thrashandburn.net
