Music reviews. CD reviews. Critically hip!

The North Carolinian foursome brings out the heavy artillery on their eleven track debut, an aggravated assault of riffs and death screams tempered with mindful melodies and thought progressions making for a two in one combination that hits like an anvil and soothes like aspirin… pain and relief all in one forty minute dose. When exactly did the term "Aggro-Rock" go out of style anyway? So either these guys are thoroughly dating themselves or AR's hasty retreat is yet inconclusive. 

And fresh from the "Whatever Happened to Kilgore files," I bring you… Swift! They're a 60/40 mix of hard and soft within the same song with no forthright ballads to speak of, though "What Tears Are For" and "3 Fools" come close much as have The Deftones on their last big radio layover. The lyrics stem from personally drawn viewpoints ranging from love, loss, and I believe a musical first here, the family doctor… however, a recurring nightmare might make for the more popular topic. 

Complaints? The guitars are loud, excessively distorted, and nearly drown out the vocals at every turn when they're playing heavy; problem is there's not a lot of upward movement there which makes for a typically similar sounding song stuck in second gear, particularly in the beginning where listener attention is made or lost. Their verses catch a too common trait as well, which if the rest of the song follows the familiar groove, makes for a sloppy seconds approach and again, easily forgettable. 

They do hit on all cylinders for a few-"Lovesick," "The Guatemalan," "The Handshake," "What Tears Are For," and there's a greater degree of drum work going on with some catchy off-beat time changes… Plus we'll give 'em points for somehow pairing Machine Head and Morrissey in the same chamber and still managing to make it convincing enough.  

Serious-minded effort geared up for a long journey.