End of Dayz : "Searching For a Way Out'

II am surprised these guys are from Seattle they sound like they are from the Bronx. If you wanted to know what New York hard-core sounds like, these guys have figured it out  The album opens with a crunchy intro that reminds me of 90s hardcore. The throaty bark on the first song also furthers these comparisons. I mean I will take this any day over Myspace era hard-core. Biohazard is the first band that comes to mind when it comes to their metallic attack, though there is less of a bouncing grooving feel. At times the vocals come closer to singing than others., The more nu-metal-like syncopation becomes more commonplace as the song progresses. 

They pick things up to a more punk-paced tempo on "Salvation'. Sometimes this has more of a thrashy cross-over feel than other times. I do not think this is as effective as when they are grooving more than they did in the first song. It is also at this point in the album, that the familiarity of the sounds they have collected begins to sound a little too similar to bands I already heard do this back in the day. I have already heard albums by newer bands who are taking this sort of thing and doing it in a manner that is catchier. I would be more prone to listen to those albums.  This is not to say that these guys are not skilled at what they are doing here as they are pulling it off well. 

"War (Riot) Spirit" is punchy and aggressive enough. Lyrically much like the bulk of this album is vague, I do not need bands to be political, but I just want to know what these guys are about aside from hard-core, maybe that is all the depth they have?  They sound great and pull everything off they are just very derivative of a time and place in music, that you may or may not be nostalgic for. I will give this album an 8.5, as it might not be the most original, but it kicks you in all the right places all the right ways. 

  

pst239