Music reviews. CD reviews. Critically hip!

Where did this album come from? With the name Nights Like These, all I could expect was standard, boring metalcore on this album. My first listen did nothing to prove otherwise. Once I put the CD into a real sound system where I could hear all of Sunlight at Secondhand's nuances, I was completely taken by surprise.

This quintet from Memphis, Tennessee, has worked hard to convince me that there is still hope left for the metal scene. With this, their sophomore album, the band has effectively shed most of the metalcore trappings that their debut was riddled with. In all reality, the only metal I want to see coming out of the South is great sludge and doom. From the psychedelic artwork to the track listing, it is obvious this is the direction the band wanted to take. Still, they they don't completely abandon their roots, and what we are left with is an album that fans of Mastodon will surely enjoy.

Right from the first track, Heart of the Wound, we are treated to some heavy, sludgy goodness. The duel guitar work is great throughout the album. There is a heavy, droning backbone that is combined with some moody, melodic textures to create some great atmosphere. The drums are important here, as they rise and crash with the natural flow of the songs. Songs like Bay of Pigs and Collective Unconscious Do well to continue this trend with heavy, plodding songs that simultaneously remind me of bands like Mastodon and Neurosis.

The album is not without its pitfalls, unfortunately. I was really disappointed to hear the band dip too far back into their metalcore roots at times. This is painfully evident on Black the Sun. It is disheartening to see a band with such potential take the easy way out like that. The vocals, while often very effective, could be more varied. Vocalist Billy Bottom has the skills, so why doesn't he use them? Finally, this album occasionally falls victim to this genre's biggest danger. Southern sludge can too often feel boring, like it is going nowhere. These moments, evident on Claw Your Way Out, are not too frequent, however, and if the band changed it up a little more, everything would be peachy.

Overall, Nights Like These has taken my by surprise and won me over. Sunlight at Secondhand isn't a perfect album, but it certainly surpassed my expectations, and I will gladly check out future releases by this talented group of guys.