Ehhh, I really like this label so I was hoping this would be good, but I can't get into it. It's a shitload better than most bands in the same category, but stylistically it's still the same old shit. I feel like I've heard these scathing vocals, generic dissonant chords, run of the mill chugga rhythms, and odd time signatures at least 15 times already this month. And, as with many of these bands, these cats don't seem to understand the concept of songwriting, because this kind of stuff loses even more momentum and force when the riffs are just sort of slapped together and the damn songs clock in at more than five or six minutes on average. That's not all there is to it or anything, there are some death metal riffs and grinding blasts as well, but it's all pretty standard material. The only things that give this band an edge are the fact that the performances are absolutely flawless and the recording sounds fucking slick as hell. These guys don't play beyond their means, they play their shit with precision and in time with one another and it sounds great. The drums are natural, the bass is monolithic in the center of the mix, and the guitar tone is fucking stellar. Don't touch that! I think the vocals lean too far towards the front, but that's just the screaming, the sparse lower growls work a lot better against the music. There are some weird melodic chords in "I Tried Voodoo Once" that are fucking incredible, but the surrounding riffs and those irritating vocal screams sort of deaden the blow for me, and that's the case with pretty much every riff on the record that I actually like. I mean, what the fuck is up with emo riffs in "How London Got its Fog"? The layout is very consistent and uses images of torn brown paper and old photographs with a few dirtier overlaid textures and remnants of the lyrics. The complete lyrics appear in a circular pattern underneath the tray. The content sways from slightly more obvious personal issues to more abstract lines, the latter of which I prefer. "Open the gates let all the wounded in leave the rest to rot fear the sky amazing how it happened, the blood poured down like rain fear this sky, fear our sky resurrect the fears that you forgot..." I'll let this scrape by with a 6/10 based on the greatness of the recording and the overall quality of the release, but the songwriting is really boring and way too generic to warrant much attention. I'd estimate that out of this half-hour EP there are 10 minutes worth of killer riffs, but there's not one single killer song to be found. Every time they start doing something cool they fuck it up within 30 seconds.
[Blackmarket]
Running time - 31:29, Tracks: 5
[Notable tracks: parts of "I Tried Voodoo Once" and "Vespers"]
Blackmarket Activities - http://www.blackmarketactivities.com
