(Arctic) www.arcticmusicgroup.com
From the album cover and name, this kinda looks like it's going to be either a trippy Tool rip-off or a Kings X prog- rock deal, but it is neither. It's mid-90's metal influenced NY style hardcore with a very dry guitar sound and alot of downstrokes in the playing department. Vocals are definitely from the NYHC period of this time, but it sounds very middling, not ferocious in its delivery in the music department, or the production. After hearing bands like Hatebreed and Diecast push the threshold of hardcore to the breaking point with an all-out attack in their playing convictions to get their point across, this kinda sounds generic and cookie-cutter. Hardcore to me has to make you want to dance like a raging lunatic for 45 minutes straight, it has to hit you right were it counts, and get you moving. Reach out and grab me, make me want to run across people's heads, make me want to dance like a PCP addict after leaving Starbucks, make me scream out every chorus like it's the end of the world. This lacks that feeling. Not bad, but nothing really memorable.
- Greg Dellaria