Review Summary: Easily [Coalesce's] most cohesive and powerful release.
Let's face it: some "metal/hardcore" bands these days are weak. Bands release full-length hour-long albums of...well...weak melodic emo-influenced metal.
This band does, in 20 minutes, what most bands can't do in an hour: beat you to ***ing death. Aurally, that is.
The overall feel of the record is just mindblowing. There are times when you bang your head so hard that it's surprising you don't get a concussion. There are times when the riffing absolutely intrigues you, leaving no time to headbang, but rather to scratch your head and say "What the hell is going on?" And there are still times when the band's sound takes your body and tosses it around shamelessly like a pitbull to a ragdoll.
The screams are bloody screams of...well, not so much pain...rather, absolute fury. "What more do you want from me?/Some sort of apology?/Well, I promise that/Forgiveness is the most you'll get" ("You Can't Kill Us All") is a warning about what is about to come. The guitars, bass and drums come in too soon for you to get out while you can. When they come in, a pipe bomb explodes in your stereo and you are in the blast radius.
Every track is chock full of odd times, headbanging breakdowns, and scary heaviness - qualities which seem to be staple in every new "hardcore" release. This band was one of the first, and best, bands to pioneer that style. Easily their most cohesive and powerful release. For some, this 20-minute beating may be all that can be handled of the raw power and destructive abrasion of Coalesce's sound. Enjoy at your own risk.
