I can't decide how I feel about this band. The music is basically textbook metallic hardcore with a mix of fast chord progressions and midpaced mosh breaks with plenty of gang backup shouts, while the lead vocals are high-pitched yells that have a little bit of a different sound. Fair enough, right? Sure. I'm okay with all of that. There's really nothing wrong with this stuff, it's just not doing all that much for me on some level. I think part of it's that the vocals sound too forced. Make no mistake, the kid sounds pissed, and I do dig the fact that his approach has a different sound to it, but... there's something about the vocals that kind of rubs me the wrong way at times. Whereas musically I've got no quarrels with the massive mosh breaks or the old school flavor of a lot of the verse parts, but again, the songwriting's just not really hitting me. After a quick and typically titled intro ("We're Bringin' it Down"), "To Never Try" is among the more creative tracks in its use of mild dissonance and melody without abandoning any traditions. I'm not really feeling the rocked out lead breaks in "Dragnet", but those types of influences pop up to a more creative degree in the more interesting "All Burnt Up" which follows. The rest of the disc is fairly commonplace and to the point. The recording's nice and heavy, but it's got some rough spots that need work. Along with the heaviness comes a muddy underbelly to the guitar tone that needs to be brightened up, while the slightly dominant vocals need to fall back in with the instruments just a hint more (which could actually allow them to overcome some of the issues I was picking up with the vocal delivery). It's loud and dense as a whole, so it's just minor polishing up and evening out that are needed to maximize those benefits. The only thing I actively dislike about this release is the layout, because the photographs tend to be uninteresting, and as a whole the design is just on the boring side. The cover photo is of a good level of quality, but I can't really hang with crowd sing-along shots where everyone in the audience looks to be around 17 years old, if not younger. The band members themselves look pretty young, and that's all fine, but seeing as I'm a jaded old motherfucker who's pushing 30 I find it pretty hard to identify with a record that's got that kind of photo slapped on the cover - especially when the band actually decides to include one-line "song explanations" even though the straightforward content is the same as 95% of the hardcore records out there these days: Staying true, living your own life, persevering, keeping it real, etc. Ehhh, but hey, it's my own fault for feeling so old, right? Whatever the case, this is a decent EP, it's just not something that really hits home for me or catches my ear. It's a little too standard and one-sided across the board, so if they continue to explore some of those sparse outside influences heard in a couple of these tracks without losing the breakdowns they could hit the mark.
[Surprise Attack]
Running time - 14:31, Tracks: 8
[Notable tracks: To Never Try, All Burnt Up]
Surprise Attack Records - http://www.surpriseattackrecords.com
