Another very promising band bites the dust at the hands of a terrible recording. This is the second band on Goodlife that caught my ear on the "America's Hardcore" compilation despite having a shitty sound that has gone on to release another solid record on Goodlife that also sounds like crap. What's wrong with this picture? I can tell you right now that I would probably be all over this if the production was nice and thick, as opposed to being about as heavy as a feather and about as sturdy as a wet paper bag. These guys play melodic metalcore somewhat similar to a weird combination of Shai Hulud meets Boy Sets Fire - there's a lot of dual guitar interaction, powerful riffing, vocals that jump from abrasive screams to calm singing, etc. The songwriting is really creative, too... I don't know, it's not totally original, but there's some jazzy stuff going on and the riffs just have a unique sort of flare to them, especially when the basslines start popping out and they fiddle with acoustic guitars and stuff. I like the songs so much that I can almost get used to the recording, but damnit... it pains me to listen to something like this when I know how much better it could be. The rhythm section sounds alright. There's a little bit too much hiss on the cymbals, but the drums and the bass have a good tonal range going on, it's just that the bass is way too low in the mix. The guitars, on the other hand, are way too thin and wimpy. Beef those fuckers up! The vocals also need to be warmer and brighter, especially the singing. Adding in some harmonies would be a damn nice touch, but either way the recording isn't well rounded enough to do the elements that should be slightly dominant any justice. Damn... this is a real shame. A real shame. I'm admittedly being a little bit hard on the recording because the more I listen to it the more I can adjust my ears to it, but I can't help it... it really has to get better than this for these songs to reach their potential. It deserves to be better than this. The layout's pretty minimal. I like the unusual orange/brown color scheme. Aside from some subtle layering of textures in the background the only imagery is on the front cover, which shows some broken glass and some facial features on a set of negatives, and under the CD tray, which shows the same image of broken glass from the cover (only larger). Other than that it's all text, and not a lot of it. You get a tracklist, the band lineup, and two lines of recording information. No lyrics or anything like that. Go figure. I guess this band was formed by members of Morning Again and 12 Tribes, so hopefully that name power can land them on a label that can hook them up with a more suitable recording budget. This music god damn well deserves it. Please, someone, anyone, wake the fuck up and get this band into a real studio... I'm anxiously awaiting the result.
[Goodlife]
Running time - 25:30, Tracks: 8
[Notable tracks: Chasing Angels, A Depth Still Deepens, Song #5]
Goodlife Recordings - http://www.goodliferecordings.com
