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I liked their last album a great deal, but was unsure why it was being called death rock when it was old school metallic hardcore that owed more to Die Kruzen. Sure, there is more of a hint of old AFI on this album. It's the more aggressive elements that have been refined with some more outright metal playing captured here. I had to go back and listen to "The Apparition" as it got swept away in the album's momentum. The verse riff is more melodic and finds the vocal croon working well. The riff in the chorus reminds me of Judas Priest,but still works. "Gifted Shame" packs a heavier punch, and highlights the fact that the overall feel of the guitars this time around is more metal.
Even though things have changed a bit on this album, they are still more of a hardcore band than Turnstile. "No Hand to Lead" is more melodic, but that does not make it "goth", it's just a moody stab at 90s radio rock from a hard-core band, which works for me. It is one of the album's best songs so far. "Prediction" has a similar feel to the previous song, but there is like an undercurrent of Dokken in the guitar playing. The emotive singing comes closer to what Unto Others tries to do; these guys are just less cheesy and more convincing. The songs are written in a very concise fashion, only occasionaly breaking the four-minute mark.
"Burials of Birth" feels like the most AFI moment yet, a former hard-core band branching out into poppy post-punk. There are some intersting sounds on "Fractures", which is little more than an intro for that title track, which sound more like Killing Joke until the more scowling vocals take over. Jake Murphy's voice sounds best on the power-ballad of sorts that closes the album and finds him with the space to open up and really sing, which is impressive. I will give this album a 9.5 and see how it grows on me, the band has refined their s ound and feels more confident in who they are.Being released on Relapse Records.
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