I certainly don't get the band name, but musically this is competent and promising metalcore with a good sense of grinding fury and melody that strays from the typical trappings of the genre these days. The riffs favor grindcore and obscure thrash over melodic death metal and chunky breakdowns, but there are still some unexpectedly indie-ish clean passages and a few metal riffs reminiscent of Catharsis... and the vocals are constantly layered and traded off between vicious low growls and scathing midrange high screams. "Desolate Fields" does kick out a lot of hammer-on/pull-off riffs and sloppy dual guitar runs that get sort of typical, but I really like the brevity and ferociousness of "Till the Day I Die". I don't care for the clean parts because for me they just don't fit, but from a writing standpoint these kids could do some damage with the right growth. They use melody very well in their chord progressions, the vocal patterns and dual vocal interaction is well handled, and they've got energy - not all the time, but when it's on, it's on. The sound isn't bad for a demo (which I assume this is in many ways). The mix is pretty even, and despite the tones needing work, it's listenable and shows you basically what the band is doing right now. I wouldn't touch the bass, and the vocals are pretty dead on too, but the drums and guitars need some cleaning up (performance wise as well). The CD comes in a plastic sleeve with a two-sided cover and a black and white lyrics insert. The outer cover is all text while the inside is in color and has the band members' heads impaled on spikes. The lyrics are handwritten, longer than average at times, and generally stick with sarcasm (as titles like "Waves of Blood" may suggest). At its best this is actually pretty good, but as a whole there are too many pitfalls holding it back from its true potential. It's one of those rare cases where the songs seem to go in too many directions, some of which make little sense and should perhaps be reigned in for a more focused approach. For a demo I have to give them credit, though.
[self-released]
Running time - 22:31, Tracks: 8
[Notable tracks: Till the Day I Die, The Perkisizer, xLiesx]
Inside Recess - http://www.insiderecess.com
