Catherine

Inside Out

Written by: BL on 29/06/2009 16:49:26

Another day, another Rise Records band. A label becoming a household name to some with so many new and upcoming bands from playing in such a similar scene. Having done extensive tours of the US, put out 2 full lengths and an EP, and have had to live past the death of a former band member due to skin cancer (their much fan loved ex-vocalist Bryan LeMasters who passed away December 2008) its fair to say this band have been through quite a deal already. This album marks a slight stylistical change to the previous album "The Naturals" of which I briefly listened to a long time ago.

Indeed there is a greater metal and hardcore influence on this album which becomes very apparent as you hit the opening track with its deceptive punchy stop-start intro. Guitarists Jesse and Robert seemed to have upped the ante since their last outing with a far bigger range of licks that cross from pure tasteful to some real ear opening fret work, weaving melodies left right and centre or harmonised together (my personal favourites coming from "Bailar", "Meaning" and "Turbulence"). The duo manage to keep the songs moderately enjoyable without really showcasing anything mindblowing, offering just a bit of sparkle when elsewhere stays fairly predictable.

However their efforts are hampered perhaps slightly by the monotonous vocal work of Nick Bradwell. While seeming more steady this time round in his voical delivery, he stays in the same hardcore shout-come-scream for the most part of the album and still lacks real venom. He throws in some more deep growls to good effect though to show at least he is expanding somewhat, though his clean vocals still have room for improvement - he sings with some passion, but the vocal melodies could be better ("Nobody Likes A Friend Who's Dead" perhaps having one of the more sucessful clean excursions).

Elsewhere there isn't too much to say: the drumming is a fairly routine affair from Julio Garcia and the bassist Paul Vicory plays it safe by the books. Unfortunately most of the songs adhere to a fairly repetitive structure and tend to lack a real depth or ability to make a long lasting impression beyond remembering a couple of cool riffs here and there. The production isn't bad but has a rather muddy texture, everything sounds a little on the thin side and there is need for a more hard hitting, meaty tone. And all this ultimately limits the amount of enjoyment to be had with this album, worth checking out at least and probably worth a few spins if you like metalcore but nothing too much more.

6

Download: Bailar, Mr Monroe, Meaning
For the fans of: Evergreen Terrace, Vanna, Atreyu
Listen: Myspace

Release date 28.04.2009
Rise Records

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