I loved "Grim Wisdom," so expectations are high for this one. The opening track has a more thrash feel, until things slow and get more moody and melodic as the song progresses. There is still a Life of Agony vibe going on, but they are covering way more ground sonically this time around and throwing down with more punishing accents to pound you with what some might consider breakdowns. "Maximum Suffering' sells the melancholy while rocking the fuck out, which is what I liked about Life of Agony, that winning combination works equally well here.
"Gilded Hatred ' highlights the fact that the melodies are punchier this time, but hold more hook, yet the band does not shy from balancing this out with a heavier drive. The title track carries a more deliberate stomps, as the riffs jerk you about with dizzying transitions. The songs are rather compact, so they are packing ample riffage into them. The gang vocals in "Equilizer' keep the hard core roots of the band present despite the more metallic bombast they are hitting you with this time around. It seems like the "Apocalypse Intro' which is an instrumental, should have been the first song.
"Impulse" has more of a punk drive to its energy. They split the difference for "Snake Oil God" and have the hardcore muscle balancing the thrashing guitars. The vocals are more of an aggressive though, find the croon that feels more like AFI here. They belted bellow of the vocals is perhaps running with the river in it's deepest shade of red on "Symbol of Mourning". The last song "Over Mine" is melodic to the point of being a power ballad, thought the vocals sound great on it and it works really well. I will round this one up to a 10 as it just needs a few listens to grow on me. Close enough to the first album, but shows an expansion of their sound in a direction that is both heavier and more melodic vocally. May 23rd Closed Casket Activities.
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