Capra : "Errors"

 

There is been a trend of female fronted hard core bands cropping up more this year. This is the second album from these kids and from the opening track it seems it might be a ripper. It is on Metal Blade, so there is enough cross over into metal to warrant. Most of that can be found in the guitar. Those grooves are more interesting than when they default into the more straight forward punk feel on "Tied Up" .  Lotus' angry yells follow a similar pattern regardless of if the rest of the band is in more of a metal mode or punk outburst. I appreciate the effort of the guitarist to make things rather sonic. They are quick to jerk a riff around on you, and incorporate a mathy angular twist to thing. 

Crow does ride the groove of "Silana" better with where she puts her words than she did with the previous song. There is a fun 90s vibe to the energy of the song. There break downs stomp , but the songs are not reliant on them. 'Trauma Bond" proves that when they lean into the groove of the riffs they are at their most potent as a band. When they speed things up they end up sounding like every other punk band. Sometimes deciding what balance to achieve in this regard  plays to their favor. The use of backing gang vocals comes sparingly into play which is another wise choice on their part as it makes those moments more memorable. However four songs in her vocals begin to feel like she is a one trick pony. 

"Loser" is more up tempo, which finds her resorting to a similar style of shouting that falls under a more typical color by numbers style of hard core. The guitar riffing is what ends up providing the songs most redeeming moments. As a band they are very polished, so say they are tight, should never be an issue as you should not be releasing albums on an actual label if that is not the case. The deliberate drumming of "Kingslayer". The more thrashing feel is pretty effective. Crow's cadence shifts a little, but she doesn't come any closer to singing. I also notice during the song, she doesn't really allow her voice to crack into a scream or drop into a growl, it's sits tonally like a more forceful take on her speaking voice. This begins to make everything feel dynamically flat. 

The singer from Walls of  Jericho joins them on "Human Commodity" which is added by perhaps the album's most powerful riff.  "Transplant" just blasts by without really gripping me in a manner that demands my attention, which I think the point of hard core is that it is music that grabs your attention. "Obligatory Existence"  continues to find the album losing steam, though the riffs have a little more hook to them, yet Crow remains a angry girl just screaming over things without contributing to giving the song more form or function. "Nora" is more sonic and finds the band attacking with a more sonic black metal like blast. If this had been George Clarke from Deafheaven on this track it would have really slapped, but instead we are getting what we get here. This album sounds great overall, and there are some cool guitar riffs captured in what at first were entertaining songs but the vocals began to fall flat and bore me, so I will give this album an 8, which is still better than most hard core bands, but not at the top of the heap, though these kids have potential. 

Walls of Jericho : "No One Can Save You From Yourself"

17 years ago I caught this band live. Since then they got caught up in the whole Myspace metal thing, though this just gave them a bigger budget to work with. The band seems to have maintained their integrity and sound very similar to how they did 17 years, even after their singer appeared in the hottest chicks in metal issues of Revolver.Their first album in eight years  opens pretty much just like any metallic hard core album with a stomping declaration of anger. When it speeds up they lose some of the fury. The title track that follows stays close to this formula with plenty of gang vocals chiming in. The chug of the riffs works a little better here and they hint at breakdowns.They don't really hit their stride until "Militant". Hardcore has taken after Converge's footsteps and moved in a darker direction, this is not the case with Walls of Jericho they are following a path more closely related to Sick of It All. "Fight the Good Fight" checks off all their obligations as a hard core band with a more metal production value.

Vocalist Candace Kucsulain barks with the best of the boys. "Cutbird" finds the band indulging in their more metallic side, though her vocals really only vary in where she places her bark, up until she actually sings to some extent. This little melodic tweaking to her delivery makes all the difference in the world. They bring a pretty powerful beating to "Relentless". The verses find it in the run of the mill hard core temper tantrum. The drummer proves him self with the hammering here. Lyrically it's pretty typical struggle vs strength with a cheering section of tattooed tough guys. The opening riff to "Damage Done" has a Anthrax like thrash feel to it, but then takes off into more of punk tempo and the rest of the song reminds me of something off of a post-90s Slayer album. Well done but not really breaking any new ground. The bass sets the stage a shade darker on "Reign Supreme", the guitar makes the mood rather short lived as they take back off into the stompy thrash.

One of the common themes to this album is the intros to these songs offer a really good set up, but by the time they kick into the verse, half the time the air is let out of the tires by speeding up into what every other hardcore band and their brothers have already done. Walls of Jericho do a good job of perfecting this formula, but it's way too familiar. "Anthem" is not a cover of the Rush song. Instead it's a speedy shout out that throws the mic out into the audience while the lawn mover dance kicks in. The gang vocals get crazy, but actually add to the dynamics of "Beyond All Praise". But like Spinal Tap says "Once you are at ten where else is there to go?". She sings again when they close the album with a convincing cover of Concrete Blonde's "Probably Will". I'll give this one a 7.5, they pull off their era of hard core with a masterful touch, but a little more growth aside from the excellent would have been good, if you are a fan this will be a welcome return, I've just been here and done that.