Their 96 self titled album was pretty ground breaking it came out a decade before the slew of Myspace bands that would try to play a melodic metal hybrid of post-hardcore. So when the fist song sounds like a B-side from "Far Beyond Driven" it's a little bit of a disappointment. The gain some traction on the second injecting a little more emotional depth to it, but then step back into becoming a Pantera tribute band on "Electric Sky" only redeeming themselves with the more melodic section half way into it. Singer Tim Williams is great at coming up with varied emotional tones to inject into his more sung vocals. They have shed the bulk of the nu-metal leanings they began to head towards on their third album. They mix sounds of Pantera with a some what Acid Bath like dynamic however they are not a dark as Acid Bath. "Craving" has more thought in the lyrics and it is conveyed in the overall performance. By the the time we get to "Cut My Teeth' the clean vocals are beginning to remind me of Failure in places. It pretty much finds them mired down into every metal cliche that has emerged post- grunge era.
"Red on the Walls" finds a darker 90's alternative colliding with the more straight forward hardcore metal. It doesn't really catch my interest until the two minute mark when the vocals take on more of a whine. The launch into a Pantera like groove metal on " Severed Wing" its pretty much filler not making me feel one way or another. The vocals have more feeling to them on "Nightcrawler" and the guitar riff compliments it. They close out the album with "Amuridca A Culture of Violence" has a few melodic moments that make me take notice , but over all falls flat for me. Maybe you are less demanding when it comes to metal. If so then this album might work better for you. I'll round it down to a 5.5 because I know these guys are capable of doing more than just being a Pantera cover band. But maybe Pantera cover bands are your thing.Candle Light Records releases this November 13th.
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