It's gotten to the point where every time I pop in a CD and hear melodic Swedish styled metalcore, my heart sinks a little. I'm sick of it. I've been sick of it for over a year, and I'm still sick of it. The only thing that keeps this band afloat is the fact that they're not entirely derivative. They've got a lot more melody involved, their hardcore influences are evident, and they use a lot of tight guitar interplay ala Shai Hulud and whatnot that adds more interest to the songwriting. Yes, the vocals are generic sneers, and yes, there are too many bland tremolo picked runs that really have nothing to offer. And of course, the EP would be "lacking" were it not for a few chunky breakdowns and some pseudo chaotic pull-off riffs and dissonant chords, right? But I'm not sure how I feel about this as a whole. It is above average. The very presence of interesting riffing that actually catches my attention puts it above most of this shit. But the songwriting is still largely problematic as far as shuffling through too many changes and riffs without emphasizing anything. "Skipping the Beat" is the best song as far as the consistency of the riffing and overall flow, but I'm just not into those plain vocal screams, and they still fall back on too many overused staples of the genre. The common riffs should be the afterthoughts that rarely show up, not the memorable riffs. I also think the songs are too long, as they all hit around five minutes or more, but they don't really need to be that long due to all the filler surrounding the finer moments. I have no major gripes with the recording. It needs minor work, but I've heard far worse. The mix is pretty strong, the tones are decent/pretty good variably. It's not bad for what it is, and nothing really rubs me the wrong way. The layout's not bad. I wish the entire booklet continued the thread of the front and back covers with the medical diagrams and handwritten track titles, but oh well. The rest is black and white, and is crisper at least, as portions of the more interesting artwork seem a little blurry. I definitely dislike the photo collage under the tray, but I guess maybe that's supposed to tie in with the band name or something. The lyrics aren't bad as they keep things somewhat understated and range from the personal to the subtly political. "You can live off the poor, Drown these ghetto screams for help, Yeah, yeah, free trade, Free to enslave as you take, Laying cultures to waste, Making sure profit is made..." I have to give this a 6/10 because it's impossible for me to ignore the fact that there are some fucking awesome riffs here, but stronger vocals and songwriting are what this band needs to really hit the nail on the head and step aside from the pack. I think they can do it, but who knows? Select portions of this EP are highly original and really kick ass, but equal portions are totally derivative and basically worthless, so...
[Limekiln]
Running time - 26:47, Tracks: 5
[Notable tracks: Skipping the Beat, Red Fall]
Limelight Records - http://www.limekilnrecords.com
