Review Summary: Just go listen to We Are The Romans.
Botch. They virtually invented metalcore and damn near perfected it at that. They were an icon to thousands eveywhere and remain one of the most influential bands in their scene. Their riffs were dissonant and crushing, their timing off-kilter, yet still accessible, and they managed to be diverse and fresh in a scene inundated with stagnating, recycled sound.
The reason I start off like this is because Bleeding Kansas are clearly trying to be Botch. However, instead of taking their sound in new directions, or improving upon it, or even slightly changing it, Bleeding Kansas simply take the tried-and-true Botch formula and beat it to death over 14 songs. They're like the weird little brother of the popular kid at school; always trying to copy what his older sibling is doing, but never understanding it or adding anything to it. In the end, it just comes off as annoying.
Despite the lack of variety, it really isn't a bad album. Some of the songs are quite a bit of fun. The title track actually makes a decent attempt at taking the angular riffing of We Are The Romans and giving them a bit of a poppy, rock-esque feel. "Feel The Sting From The First Bite" starts out slowly, but manages to build up to an enjoyable momentum(right before flat-out plagiarizing Kansas' "Carry On My Wayward Son"). But for every memorable moment Dead Under Decor creates, a dozen bland an uninspired moments follow. The band took whatever shred of originality they had and drowned it in a sea of forgettable riffs and typical lyrics. ("This will tear you apart! This will break you down!")
All in all, if you're looking for some bland, tired metalcore, this is the place to start. Dead Under Decor insists upon giving you boring track after boring track. When I say you're much better off listening to We Are The Romans, I mean it.
