As many may know, this band formed from the ashes of As Friends Rust after some lineup issues ensued, but this band actually has a significantly different sound. It's still based around melody and what I can't help but called rocked out emo, so there are some similarities, but the singing is of course way different (though still unique, almost sounding like an American Morrissey at times), and the music is possibly more direct at times, but there are still some atypical passages. Upon first listen I didn't initially like this, I'll admit. It wasn't until the third track, "Confession", rolled around that I started to become won over, and with repeated listened opener "Smoke and Mirrors" had me questioning what my problem was in the first place. The writing is catchy without being poppy or anything like that, they're just good songs with enough detail to be interesting rather than overly simple, etc. There are some quieter segments that use lots of effects and changeup the dynamics without just being your usual "clean breaks" and stuff like that, and shit, I love the vocal harmonies in tracks like "Aphrodite's Tears" (hands down the best song herein), I'm a total sucker for shit like that! The recording sounds great. Everything is loud and forceful, with bright textures and dense tones, etc. The mix is pretty much dead on, and I don't think there's anything I'd fiddle with at all. The CD comes in a great looking digipack with really colorful artwork and a consistent appearance that looks fine to me. For some odd reason they pull a common move and include a huge thanks list rather than throwing the lyrics in, but it makes no difference I suppose. I'm really glad I bought this. I don't know what's up as far as a full-length from these dudes, but I'm looking forward to that. Technically I could see As Friends Rust fans not necessarily getting into this, but give it a chance, because it's worth checking into.
[Fiddler]
Running time - 17:35, Tracks: 5
[Notable tracks: Smoke and Mirrors, Confession, Aphrodite's Tears]
Salem - http://www.salemgvl.com
