Hmmm, I don't know. This isn't bad, but I think I'd like it a little better were the recording stronger. Don't get me wrong, I'd still have problems with aspects of the record, but the guitar tone and a few issues with the mix are much more inhibiting than the fact that these kids basically play a disjointed form of metallic hardcore that combines the standard power chord runs of the genre with occasionally creative metal riffs, weird little rocked out melodies, and at times abrasively noisy textures and such. The vocals are basically all out screaming with occasional forays into more of a spoken style or a weird sort of strained and barely sung scream, but that's nothing new at this point. I don't know, I was never really curious about this band in the past for whatever reason, and I guess now I'm discovering why, because there's really nothing particularly bad about this at all, it's just not that memorable to me as a whole. Hell, there are a couple of songs that are pretty damn good come to think of it, but considering there are 13 tracks in 43 minutes I'm definitely not able to remain interested throughout - especially when they waste time with tracks like the two-and-a-half-minute instrumental "Sovereign of the Black Pit", which is basically nothing but one bland reverberated clean guitar line attempting some sort of bleak "dirge" that just doesn't do the trick. And what about the two minutes of ambient noise at the end of "Hell on a Horse"? That's a total of nearly five minutes right there that simply doesn't need to be present here. "An Allergy to the Sun" seems to amp up the energy level pretty well and stand on its own as one of the catchier tracks in its uses of dissonant metal riffs amidst the straight hardcore crunch; whereas the more hardcore oriented "Black Hood" is another that seems to hold a little more weight in terms of memorability and outright power. It comes as no surprise then that the strongest song is the one that's a hint more openly melodic and straightforward in its construction, so when "Muddweller" eases through a series of relatively fluid transitions with subtly discordant power chords and chunky breaks with lots of guitar layering it doesn't take long to earn its place at the top. "I Am Legend" comes in second due only to its overly long running time (pushing towards seven minutes) and penchant for jarring changes that occasionally miss the mark, but some of the record's most powerful surges do indeed find their way into this rather massive track. But like I said, there are some minor issues with the recording that have a surprising impact in the end result. For the most part everything sounds loud, crisp, and professional. The rhythm section seems to be in pretty good order, and I definitely appreciate the clarity of the vocals. However, the vocals are definitely overpowering in the mix, and when you add to that the fact that the guitar tone has this dirty sort of thin texture to it, there's a lack of crunch that definitely harms the balance here. The guitars don't really sound weak, but I don't like the way that open sort of gritty distortion texture works with this stuff, as it certainly accentuates the weaknesses in many of the metallic riffs. The layout's all done in high contrast black and white with a matte finish and does tend to look pretty damn good. I really like some of the repeating images and the way the text all falls together and stuff. The lyrics, though, aren't really my thing. It's nice that they're sort of going for something a little different, but they seem to have this air of "horror" or "darkness" going on that I can't make much sense of, because it just seems forced, both within the music and the lyrics, so... when it comes to lines like, "Bloody orange sunsets ripping phantoms from the ground. Hydra head, medusa skin, and chimaera's boiling blood is flowing backwards through my veins," it's kind of like... so what? You know? I don't know though, this is a weird one to review. These guys definitely aren't a run of the mill band, but it's almost like they'd be a little better if they were a little more typical? I guess from a writing standpoint they just need better quality control to know when to throw out some of the metal riffs, because a couple of 'em totally kick ass and give the band some unique character, but in other instances that stuff really deadens the blow. But "Muddweller" is easily the best song here, and there's not much about it that's out of the ordinary, so sometimes it doesn't hurt to keep things a little closer to the norm if that's what you do best.
[Ferret]
Running time - 42:26, Tracks: 13
[Notable tracks: An Allergy to the Sun, Black Hood, Muddweller, I Am Legend]
Ferret Music - http://www.ferretstyle.com
