This entirely too long full-length from this Indiana outfit contains a whopping 20 tracks of on again/off again nu-metal that clocks in at well over an hour. It's not the rappy sort of nu-metal, instead it's sort of like Tool meets Alice in Chains gone post-hardcore gone nu-metal. Kind of like that band Chevelle mixed with Linkin Park but heavier and even more typical and predictable. All of the formulas are here: The vocals that range from screaming to singing, the chugging detuned rhythms, the melodic choruses, the clean parts and constant dynamic shifts, etc. The only things they do differently are refrain from any hip-hop influences or electronic experimentation, and there are actually a few riffs that I would classify as "real metal" on occasion. All that being said, from a songwriting standpoint this isn't awful. I can listen to this. I'm not repulsed. But they're not doing anything new, and without the million dollar recording budget this stuff falls even flatter than it would if it was on mainstream radio. The production isn't that bad, but it's not bright enough and it lacks force. I don't know... it just needs to be thicker, clearer, and more rounded out. It's heavy right now, but there's no cleanliness to the low-end tones, the vocals are a bit out front, and it just doesn't have any real kick. The layout's alright, I guess. I've seen worse. I like the bland yet uniform color scheme and the overlapping textures. I'm not really sure why they put a parental advisory notice on the record, but whatever. Inside lyrics for each and every track are presented in compact boxes with small type, and they sort of dictate how formulaic the song structures can be by placing the chorus to each song in bold type and noting where the choruses are repeated in each track. As somewhat cheesy song titles like "Manic Defensive" and "Hate Train" might suggest the bitter personal lyrics aren't that insightful: "Round and around and around and around, In a spiral that brings me and you down, Never before and never again, The light at the start is the bitter end..." The bottom line is that these guys aren't an awful band, but they've made some grievous mistakes with this release that should definitely be reconsidered. There's no excuse for this CD to contain 20 tracks at a total of over 70 minutes. That's a ridiculous amount of overkill we're talking about. Take the ten best songs, cut the thing in half, and you've got yourself a memorable full-length. Throw in everything you've got and you end up with a boring mishmash of songs that don't even sound all that dissimilar to one another, much less numerous bands that have already been selling millions of records for the last three to five years. And man, does this CD ever drag on and on... I honestly don't know what else to say. The world doesn't need another band like this, regardless of the fact that these guys are actually pretty good at what they do. Hell, there some songs in here that are actually pretty damn good ("View From the Side"), but I still feel like I've heard 'em all before... Sorry.
[Smash Alley]
Running time - 73:05, Tracks: 20
[Notable tracks: Doubt, View From the Side, Face]
Downbreed - http://www.downbreed.com
