Mouth For War : "Bleed Yourself"

 With their name, I was expecting more Pantera influence. Instead, it is the kind of metalcore I like that places the emphasis on the hardcore side of the equation and has little to do with Myspace. The first song hits very solidly, making the challenge ...can they keep this kind of hammering momentum? The second song has an even more powerful chug. The production is great on this album when it comes to the vocals as they sit right where they need to be, and just the right amount of effects are used to provide more vocal colors. Most of the time they sit in a layered midrange. With this doubling up you get a few frequencies.

"Captivated" is a dense assault that stays in your face. The breakdown feel is used wisely. They hit you with varied tempos to prove they care about songs. "No Grace" feels a little darker. The dissonant guitar helps with this. Not that they get into their feelings much in this regard as it stays in your face. There is a thrashing feel to "Taste of Steel" which is fitting enough. I like how this band does not hit you with the same blunt-force trauma twice. The vocals feel more rapped in their cadence in a few places here. The first song that feels like it is kinda dialed into what everyone else is doing in this regard is "The Devil". 

By "Saturate Me" the chugs begin to take on a marginally more uniform sound. On closer listen I can pick out the nuances, but if you left this on and let it play, I can hear where it might begin to sound the same. "Under the Gun" picks up momentum, but chugs with a razor-sharp head-banging groove. "Talking to God" is two minutes of nail-stomping chaos. Normally sheer heaviness does not impress me but they continue to outdo themselves. Wirthing from one crushing riff to the next. This feral enthusiasm they throw themselves into this with does not always account for great songwriting as "The Rush of Seeing Red " can attest to since it recycles most breakdown cliches. The title track closes the album as it rides in on a flurry of double bass. The eerie guitar melody that rings out amid the beating they give your ears is the most impressive part.  I will give this album a 9, it might be the heaviest hardcore album of the year giving Harms Way a run for their money in the heaviness department.