Ahhh well. I was hoping there'd be more to it, but this is basically your typical "crazy go nuts" styled metalcore band. They're not bad. They're tight and they do have some nice riffs. I'll give 'em that much. But it's generic, and nothing strikes me as particularly memorable. They've got the scathing vocal screams with a few lower growls, lots of changes, erratic drum fills, discordant chords all over the place, noisy guitar textures, crushing mosh parts, a few guitar harmonies and a very slight sense of melody at times (including a couple of appearances of singing vocals)... it's the same old song and dance. And it suffers from the same old problem: The band isn't that hot when it comes to songwriting. It's just a bunch of riffs lumped together without a whole lot of flow or feeling. And, of course, the few instances of typical melodic Swedish death metal riffing are the final nail in the coffin. In addition to at least having some solid parts, they do have a decent recording working behind 'em. There's a lot of density, it's pretty clear, the guitars are heavy, the bass is given enough room... I can live with it. I'm not sure what I'd change to make it better, if the songs were good I doubt the recording would really bug, so fuck it. They sound alright. The packaging looks nice as well. I really like the minimal color scheme and the consistent appearance. The booklet folds out into a large six-panel piece that's made out to look like a movie poster, and the lyrics are on the other side. I'm not taken by the lyrics because they're just typical personal explorations without any real divergence from the norm whatsoever, but the visuals do have a cool look. What can I say? At least they keep the songs short. I don't hate this, it just does nothing for me. I can't imagine this stuff being all that fun to play because it comes off as completely devoid of feeling to me. I guess that's just me, but I can't change that fact.
[Pluto]
Running time - 35:08, Tracks: 10
[Notable tracks: The Age Where Nothing Fits]
Pluto Records - http://www.plutorecords.com
