Going into this I only know this band plays Dragon-con on a regular basis and also does the horror-con circuit which is why they are one of my friend's favorite bands. They have cool monster themed t-shirts.The opener is like a dark wave Tears For Fears which is better than some of the Volbeat hard-rock. The singer has a good voice, so much so that is carries the otherwise bland "Down in Misery". They use to be a horror punk with a touch of shock a billy, this however is well produced but straight rock.Many punk bands go this route once they gain a little more command of their instruments. You can hear the Misfits influence still lingering on "Teenage Crime Wave". Making me ask how is what they are doing here different from what Beastmilk does. The answer is the rock is much more connected to 90s alt rock radio where Beastmilk is more post-punk, carrying more sonics to their punch.
When the vocals back off and allow the melody to dominate rather than the guitar it plays in their favor and the hooks win me over on "Flesh and Blood". The title track is heavier and bass driven with intersecting melodies, not the album's most original song. The more straight forward commercially flavored hard rock continues on "Wanted Man", some of the riffs might be creative for Shinedown, but I think these guys are capable of doing something darker. "Serpentflame" doesn't do much to change direction as they take on a tighter palm muted chug.
They do reclaim their punk roots on "Gimme War" that stays in true punk form under two minutes. I prefer the punchier "New York Ripper" over their rather cookie cutter punk sound. This song also has the albums best lyrics.They keep a meaner edge on "Lords of the Wasteland" with the singer putting a little more grit in his delievery.The band closes the album out on the power ballad "Drift into Dust" that uses a few more major chords than what feels right to me, but for what it is the song is decent enough.
My initial thoughts on the album is these guys are better than I thought they would be as it's not just one to three go and all of the rock-a billy elements if they were ever there are shed for a more rock approach. I will give this one an 8.5. In time it might prove to be too straightforward for me, but if you are already a fan of the band would imagine you might want to round this up unless you are just a fan of their punk side then round it down.
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