This ep starts off in a way that falls in the assembly of metalcore these days. It's a formula that has been in the making since the days of Myspace, with a few evolutionary changes over the years, though moving in the more poppy direction is the most unfortunate. The problem is when a genre is marketed as metalcore when the choruses hit as hard as the Backstreet Boys, it ruins the trust between, labels and the markets, as well as between artists and fans; This is not gatekeeping, it's about truth in advertising.
The second song is a little more Linkin Park, though it does have guttural accents and more crushing breakdowns, but when this is only four songs you have to use all four songs to the best of your ability. The pace to "No Sympathy" might pick up, but when the chorus hits like some weak-ass emo pop punk, it tips the balance in the wrong way. I am a fan of sung vocals and even in hardcore do not need vocals screamed I think the first Life of Agony album provides an example of how this can be accomplished, and that album goes hard as hell. The poppy production and electronic elements are not a deal breaker for me as Candy uses those, as did Code Orange and that goes hard as hell,
"Overpowered" finds them still wanting to be Linkin Park. Perhaps committing to being nu-metal might have been a more realistic option. Linkin Park is not a nu-metal band I like if I had to list my faves, but I think artists need to be more in touch with who they are and make music from that place rather than who they would like to be, as then it just creates music that sounds and no songs with truth or heart to them that you can feel. This album is just an empty product that is going to the wrong audience. They can play their instruments and have a feel for hooks despite them being often misplaced, so it's not total trash, but not for me I will give this a 7.
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