Review Summary: Josephine Burning, a local Texas band, comes out with their first EP that shows the potential but doesn't quite live up to it.
Most people will not have heard of this band because they are simply a local band, friends of mine who asked me to post and review their album on various sites. Granted I think I'm expected to give it a higher rating due to the friendship, that's not how it will be.
This album is a seven song EP consisting of the songs Intro, Mercy Me, Broken, Mourning, Jesus as a Drug, Somewhere Safe, and A Vague Premonition of Danger. The vocals Chase Record are definitely nice to hear. He pulls of his screams very well throughout the entire album, assisted by guitarist and backup vocalist Jerod Coker.
The CD opens with the band's intro, which is decent but nothing impressive until the end where guitarist Bidkar Viera comes in and ends the song with a nice solo, fading out and taking us into Mercy Me. It opens with a basic riff and then takes us into one of the heavier songs on the album. They do a good job with this song, and then take us into Broken. While Broken is one of their more mainstream sounding songs, it is still my favorite on the album. It starts off with a slow pace, a potential ballad but then picks up with a brilliant into scream. The only real problem with this song is that it tends to stay pretty repetitive throughout it, but this hardly hurts it.
When this song ends, we're taken into Mourning, probably my least favorite. I like the intro guitar riffs and vocals, but as it picks up and goes through the rest of the verse on into the chorus, it gradually goes downhill and seems almost forced, especially with the clean vocals. Still a decent enough song, but it could've been done without. Next we have Jesus as a Drug. The intro consists of nothing but drums and then jumps straight into another rather heavy song. Everything in the song is good except for the middle where he talks. If anything was done here he should have been yelling, and the fact that he is just talking makes me like it a lot less. Overall a good song, but nothing spectacular.
The next two songs are probably the heaviest on the album. Somewhere Safe starts out with a nice drum piece from Chris Lacy, and then once again, jumps straight into a nice, heavy song. This song is another favorite of mine because I think it is the only one that is done perfectly. You can hear the drums well which you can't always hear in the previous songs, the solo is a nice add, and the pace is always changing. A Vague Premonition of Danger is their next and final song. The verse is heavy, and I really like this song because it doesn't really have a set chorus. The drumming is impressive on this one and once again heard moreso than on the others. They end the song with some nice, brutal screams by Chase and Chris.
Overall, this EP is pretty good but could've used some work to make the quality sound better, which could've easily been done. Chris Lacy has talent on the drums that is hardly heard on this album. A CD that is a good listen but could be easily forgotten, I hope they improve their next works.
