Review Summary: Good beginning to a young band, but has a lot of room for improvement.
It doesn't take much to be a decent hardcore band in today's scene. Screams that don't repulse, clean(ish) vocals, decent guitars, solid drums, and maybe some keys or a synth are necessary. Oh yes, and breakdowns. Plenty of breakdowns.
Anything more, such as incredible technicality, originality, musicianship, or songwriting, make the band extraordinary. Casino Madrid is unfortunately not one of those bands. They are, however, another solid hardcore band.
The biggest element that is presented with Casino are the breakdowns. That sentence alone will probably turn off a lot of people immediately, but they're not just the typical breakdowns that can be found all over a Chiodos or A Day To Remember album (nothing personal against those bands, it just gets repetitive). They are what I like to describe as dual-sided breakdowns. An analogy will help to clear this up. Imagine a boxer, throwing jabs to knock the wind out of his opponent before swinging a heavy hay-maker for the knockout. This is what Casino's breakdowns are like. They will drop a couple heavier riffs, and combine it with a lower pitched scream, but then, will deliver a massive bass drop, a growl, and chug a lug chords to “knock you out”. This formula works. Great examples of these breakdowns in particular,can be found in: The Big Sleep and The Rock Mountains Aren't As Rocky As Us. (They can in all reality though, be found across the whole album, these two songs just stick out especially.)
The album contains an intro titled For Kings and Queens which does a really great job of telling you how the entire listen will play out. It has an interesting synth beginning, followed by heavy guitar riffs, which then develop into (you guessed it) a breakdown. The song is short but shows off almost all of the elements in the EP, save for the clean vocals. They have an interlude on the EP titled Clouds, that shows off their cleaner vocals, and serves as a fluid transition to The Ugly Tree.
Casino's music has a similar sound throughout the whole album, which does make it repetitive towards the end, especially since the closing song Pyramids, is six minutes long. The music doesn't stay at a single tempo though, it has a rolling tendency. The music is continually swelling and falling (breakdowns and their aftermath). The guitars however, are pretty boring. They aren't nonexistent, but they certainly aren't anything special. The drums can also be improved, but I think they do a fine job keeping up with Joe's screams. The clean singing is alright. It is, of course, veering towards an auto-tuned mess of vocals, which is already a problem in today's hardcore scene. The worst thing for this band would be to follow in Attack Attack's footsteps. Casino is heavier, and they exemplify that clearly. They definitely have a lot of potential, it just takes musicianship and intellect to improve these problems.
With a little tweaking to boring guitar work, more technicality within the near standard breakdowns, and a will to avoid overproduction, Casino Madrid is a stellar hardcore band well on their way to becoming a bigger hit with a (hopefully) excellent LP.
Recommended Tracks: The Big Sleep, The Rock Mountains Aren't as Rocky as Us, Running With Scissors.
