End The Century

Hammer And The Anvil

Written by: TL on 25/06/2008 23:58:12

No much how it\'s spun in the promotional material of End The Century\'s debut EP \"Hammer And The Anvil\", it\'s hard to believe that their ability to release it less than a year after becoming a band is due to anything else than the frenzied hunger for more metalcore and screamo acts the scene seems to harbor these days.

What\'s on the band\'s self released EP is a vicious variant of modern metalcore. Blastbeats, thrashy riffs and heavy breakdowns are the order of the day, and here and there you might be able to spot an influence from August Burns Red. The drums especially impress, sounding like something you\'d expect from a more seasoned band. Production-wise, this EP actually sound a lot better than you\'d expect, and it\'s easy to distinguish drums, guitars and vocals from each other. However, despite the clarity of the sound, somehow it still sounds like it has been recorded in Harry Potter\'s bedroom, and the perceived confinement of the sound obviously takes something away from the weight of the expression.

That\'s the manifestation of End The Century\'s first major problem. The second one comes in the form of their vocals. Now I don\'t mind a band that doesn\'t resort to clean vocals for choruses, quite the contrary in fact, but I do mind bands whose screamers aren\'t good enough to make their words at least somewhat audible. I just can\'t see how I\'m supposed to identify with songs where I can\'t understand a word. Especially when the singers seem to be so busy putting aggression into the words, it seems like they must have some significance?

Effectively, End The Century ends up seeming like a band that shows some promise here and there, in the good drum work and the odd catchy breakdown, but they have little to distinguish them from the hordes of bands infesting their genre, and with the weird confined sound of their debut, as well as the indecipherable vocals, they end up seeming like a band for those who like WRAARRH\'ing simply for the sake of WRAARRH\'ing.

6

Download: Entr\' Acte, Recluse
For The Fans Of: August Burns Red, The Devil Wears Prada
Listen: myspace.com/endthecentury

Release Date 28.04.2008
UNSIGNED BAND

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