These guys used to be on Roadrunner Records and I remember seeing their record all over the place. It had an absolutely terrible cover and I figured they were a cheesy nu-metal band as a result. That's not necessarily true, though. Now they're back as the debut release on a fledgling record label, and while this material definitely leans towards the heavier and more in your face side of nu-metal, it's not so bad from a songwriting standpoint. Generic? Somewhat, sure. The song structures are basic and cycle through your usual rhythmic grooves and melodic chords as the vocals jump from grunty shouts to smooth singing, and at times they hit some chunkier riffs that have more of a metalcore sort of thing happening, but hey, a good song is a good song in my book. I make no secret of the fact that I actually enjoy some nu-metal, and regardless of what you feel like classifying this as, there are some strong tracks herein. "Paper Tiger" brings in some effective melody early on with a solid chorus that fuses singing with some great layers of melodic chords, "One Handed Knife Fight" brings in dissonant chord phrasings that definitely have more of a metalcore lean on occasion, whereas "200 Years" picks up the pace a bit and has more energy than most of the midpaced material as a result. "The Perfect Enemy" is one of the only songs that doesn't really work for me because even the vocal patterns get heavily rhythmic and the tremolo picking passages just don't make sense... you can't win 'em all. Closer "No Reason" is an acoustic ballad kind of deal, and I'm not too keen on that either. It's alright, but it really stands apart as a disconnect from the album as a whole, so at least it's the last track. As with much of this style I actually find the melodic aspects to be the strongest (the chorus riffing in "With Deepest Regrets...", for example), simply because they're often the most memorable or creative outlets, and I've never been a proponent of overly groovy chords, so it wouldn't hurt for these cats to let up on some of that chunky stuff in favor of blending the real deal heaviness with the melodic side. I don't have any significant complaints about the recording. It's ultra heavy and a little detuned without getting into clunky overproduced territory. The drums sound pretty good most of the time, the bass tone is really strong and pumps away just behind the guitars, and the vocals don't dominate. In certain areas there are a few spots that sound slightly dryer (minor inconsistencies in guitar and drum tones and such), but that doesn't bother me. I think making the bass a little more of an equal partner with the guitars could be cool since the character of the bass tone is fuckin' great, and some of the flatter percussion could use a little polishing, but for the most part it sounds like what you'd expect given their niche. The layout looks pretty good, using a minimally tinted black and white color scheme (sometimes blue-ish, others more of a sepia toned look) with bleak landscapes of withered trees and tombstones. The lyrics are about what you'd expect as far as being pretty blunt and personal, it's nothing that really hits me, but at the same time I've seen far worse, and most of what you see from this style of metal is definitely cheesier than what they're doing here. And if nothing else the artwork looks infinitely superior to their last record, so they're not as likely to be tossed off or prejudged this time out since the visuals are a better fit for the music. Not bad. It's nothing special, you know? But it's not bad. There are some good songs here, and if their music continues to mature I could see them doing a completely solid record without much more work. They've definitely grown for the better since their stint with Roadrunner.
[Repossession]
Running time - 37:13, Tracks: 11
[Notable tracks: Paper Tiger, With Deepest Regrets..., As Thick as Thieves]
Dry Kill Logic - http://www.drykilllogic.com
