Here's the debut EP from this band that features ex-members of Diehard Youth. It's similar to their demo in that the songs are heavier and more pissed off than Diehard Youth was, and the recording is definitely better than it was on their demo, but honestly I'm mildly disappointed with this because I had high hopes for the band based on the demo, though I'm not finding these songs to be all that energetic or memorable. It's not bad, but all of the songs are kind of in this midpaced rut that doesn't offer enough punch or variety to really jump out. Also, despite sounding significantly better than their demo, the recording still comes across as a little lifeless, and that also harms the way the material's communicated here. The drums are a little thin, the guitars somewhat distant, etc. The bass tone seems alright, but the vocals and everything else feel like they need more presence. I don't know, it's a little dry and plain, so honestly this sounds more like a decent demo than their demo did (the demo just sounded terrible in my opinion). The tracks are around two minutes each and occasionally do offer some solid breakdowns or bitter vocal shouts (nothing gets too overbearing mind you, this isn't chugga chugga stuff by any means), I just can't get excited about it. "The Campaign" is a solid instrumental that builds itself around clean guitars and a darker edge that offers some promise, but aside from that most of the songs sound pretty similar to one another. It's a weird mix of styles, because there aren't really any old school sounding breaks, the power chord rhythms only flirt with a NYHC sort of sound, there's a little bit of tasteful discordance with some subtly rocked out leads or whatever, etc. I don't know, I definitely think a heavier and smoother sound would benefit these guys greatly, but the compositions would still need to pick up the pace a little and throw in more dynamics to grip the listener. "Smell the Glove" is the only track that tends to come close to that, closing with a faint clean passage before leading into the somewhat punchier "True to Def". "The Song That Made the World Hate Me" closes and has a slightly harder hitting edge to its rhythms, making it my favorite song herein and the only tune that I actually think is representative of where the band excels. The layout looks great and uses crisp little typefaces amongst really bleak monochromatic landscape photos. The lyrics are a mildly confusing jumble of content that comes across as perseverant and hopeful as well as a bit bitter and antagonistic, with a few lines hitting on a weird hip-hip sort of thing (I mean, "protect ya neck"?), but most everything's more along the lines of, "And I'm not afraid to admit the future looks bleak, and I'm tied of turning the other cheek..." I don't know, I'm taken aback by this one. I fully expected to be pretty into this as I was a fan of their past work and was able to see some potential despite the rawness of the demo, but this work's just not clicking with me, I'm sorry to say.
[Martyr]
Running time - 13:37, Tracks: 7
[Notable tracks: True to Def, The Song That Made the World Hate Me]
Martyr Records - http://www.martyrrecords.com
