Knives and Greenwater starts things off with one track of what I would call a "controlled chaos" sort of metalcore with a lot of discordant riffing and a little bit of subtle melody wrapped up in abrasive arrangements that are heavy on the rhythm section, and they even throw in some totally unexpected keyboard textures that actually do work! The vocals are mainly screams but there is some great singing in the background at times. This is pretty intense material, and it's heading towards putting an original twist on a somewhat common style. And damn, the drumming is fucking awesome! As far as the recording goes, I'm not bothered by anything per se. It's a little bit rough around the edges, but the drums sound natural with good pop to the snare and density all around, the keyboards fill in some of the gaps, the bass is audible, the seething vocals are kept in check by the mix... not bad. Suicide Note kicks out two blazing tracks of their diverse and forceful metalcore onslaught complete with blistering dissonance, eerie melody, churning rhythmic heaviness, vocals that hop from scathing screams to sporadic growling, etc. "Doomsday Picnic" starts out slow and quiet with some slick melodic bass runs and light percussion before kicking into a driving groove with absolutely sick vocal work over some noisy guitar textures. The recording is pretty good. It's a little but on the rougher side in the high-end realm, but it works out because of the bass presence and the force of the drums, not to mention the fact that the vocals have some solid texture going on. The layout is pretty damn cool. The outer sleeve uses a bunch of abstract layers of texture in blue and white with some gray, and there's a very subtle layer of varnish printed in another abstract arrangement over the top. The inner sleeve is all black and white and includes lyrics, band information, etc. in withered looking typefaces that, while hard on the eyes, do fit the appearance of the record perfectly. This is a great split by two great bands. Suicide Note proves once again that they are among the best at what they do, and Knives and Greenwater did indeed catch my ear. Worth checking out.
[One Day Savior]
Running time - 9:00 (approximately), Tracks: 3
[Notable tracks: The Getting in From the Typhoon, Doomsday Picnic]
One Day Savior Records - http://www.onedaysavior.com
