Review Summary: Save your time, don't listen to this pile of garbage.
This band may well be the worst artist I have ever had the displeasure of hearing in my life, and I thoroughly encourage anybody reading to stay well away from their material. Consider the most bland groove elements of Soulfly performed by instrumentally brain-dead men in their mid-late twenties, somehow picked up by a local label who encourage venues and festivals to add them to the line-up, and then imagine this compressed into five of the most generic, unoriginal tracks conceivable. Sadly, after seeing them at a show recently, I mentioned I would listen to their EP and review it, and here I am now, wallowing in self-pity.
Picking the positives out of this mess is difficult, but there are one or two to be found. The harsher vocals aren't the worst I've endured, as the chorus to the title track shows. As I understand it, Jordan Hughes handles the rhythm guitar and the vocals, and those semi-aggressive calls are somewhat tolerable. The same cannot be said for the clean vocals, found throughout Crescent Moon. In fact the only thing worse than the cleans are the lyrics that are spouted, with the second verse of that particular track utilizing three curses in the space of two lines. C'mon, guys, there's better choices of words. The only other positive to be found here is that the songs don't completely outstay their welcome, with each track having several different riffs and a couple of tempo changes, and the lead guitar during the bridge of Crescent Moon is solid enough, let down by a miserable solo.
Therein lies one of my primary issues with this EP. For saying they have a lead guitarist, he is completely talentless. The solos are basic three-note pull-off patterns and a couple of slower passages to provide the illusion of variety. The rest of the lead guitar work is usually comprised of Iron Maiden-style harmonies, or else aimless meandering. The drumming is completely pedestrian, with D.I.C. attempting to mix it up a little, yet the fill at the start feels totally disjointed. The rhythm guitar riffs are atrocious, and the bass guitar performed by a man named Kaliban is inaudible. The songwriting is pathetic, with the most out-of-time blast beats I've heard found on D.I.C. before the verse kicks in, and two of the songs (Drop The Bomb and the title track) using the "clean-style ominous" intro trope proving a lack of creativity whatsoever, and killing any impact that this might have had individually. The only song here that I can tolerate is the title track, because at least then the vocalist shuts up with the garbage clean singing for a while and they focus more on trying to rip off Pantera and Lamb Of God.
You're Already Dead is by far the worst attempt at music I have ever heard, and reminds me exactly why I don't listen to the material by bands seen at local shows very often. I will be staying away from Derby for the foreseeable if this is what passes as local music, and advise everyone here to do the same.
