I knew this band had potential from their previously released EP's and singles. Unfortunately, it doesn't come through to the fullest extent on their debut full length. The instrumentation, while certainly above average for metalcore, opts for a very djenty/chuggy sound that lacks a lot of the tasty higher end riffs prevously heard by the band, and the production makes it all sound a bit muddy. The albums biggest fault is the over-use of the clean vocalist who, while he may not be the most talented singer ever, can add a nice dynamic to a song when used tastefully (see the track Jordan off their Guilt EP). However on this album, he is used heavily in almost every song. Perhaps this wouldn't be as noticeable if the band used some less traditional song structures, resulting in each clean vocal passage being used only once, but most are repeated 3 times. There are some very catchy hooks to be found, as well as some lackluster ones, and the lyrics range from decent to a little cringy. Overall, this release let me down a bit, and I unfortunately predict the band will do the opposite of what I think would improve their sound going forward, but they have potential so I will hope for the best. Still a decent metalcore album, with some diamonds in the rough (Black Dog in particular).
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