Review: Last Perfection “Drawing Conclusions” CD

Nine tracks of metalcore that's largely based around the melodic Swedish death metal style, of course blended with some chugging breakdowns and whatnot. Expect lots of crunchy midpaced melodies in the vein of At the Gates, solid mosh parts that aren't too over the top, lightly technical riffing with lots of dual guitar interaction, a few generic chaotic runs, killer solos, and vocals that are sort of a mix of growling/screaming (hitting on exaggerated snarls and quick spoken lines at times - both of which are rather ineffective compared to the standard midrange delivery). It's nothing new, and I'm not blown away by it, but for a style that's become very commonplace and stale these kids do write solid riffs and listenable songs. I think the typical metalcore trappings that lean more towards frantic notes and quick changes are bland as hell, whereas some of the slower and more layered parts are quite slick, but despite bulky running times most of the songs carry their own weight. I don't think they need to top four minutes so often, as the more focused pieces often tend to work better, but it's not a major problem (and though a little long "Obtuse and Obscure" does tend to remain fairly linear). "Walking a Mile in Cement Shoes" is a brief clean instrumental that breaks up the aggression and shows off some cool melodies and fluid basslines, but it's the closing instrumental, "The Number 5 Looks Like 2" that really proves how sleek the clean riffing can get here... I'd love to hear that stuff blended into the songs more often. Nice shit. The disc was produced by Kurt Ballou, who tends to be one of my favorite producers, and while this particular style doesn't seem to be perfect for his reputation of thick warmth, it still sounds good. The drums sound really nice and have a good snap that lets the performance stand out, the basslines have enough breathing room, and the guitars are well textured. I think the heavy guitars need a little more smoothness somehow, or maybe they need to be brighter on some level, but it sounds okay. The performances need minor tightening up here and there, but the solos are really fuckin' cool and well written - if the playing was really fluid I'd be a big fan of the leads all around. The layout looks pretty good, using mostly black and dark gray with a few more colorful bursts, and lots of chaotic and abstract sketches mingled with recognizable bits and pieces. The lyrics are a mixed bag for me though, dealing with personal topics to varying degrees of success - some more generic, others on the blunt side of things that I can appreciate: "Open up the gates and unleash the river of shit. Up to your elbows in others' mistakes. Kill the pursuers with your eyes, and leave them all defenseless..." Not bad. It needs work, and I'm still really burnt out on this style, but these guys have skills when it comes to writing riffs, so if they filter out the wilder metalcore junk they could end up in a better position.