The pattern of “Darkened Dreams” soon becomes clear when the intro gives way to a thunderous machine-gun riff and an erupting drum line, accompanied by an exaggerated and faintly ridiculous growl. Even more bizarre are the clean vocals. Is this a poor version of Killswitch Engaged? The heaviness is a pretence, hiding behind a sugar coating of catchiness and melody. I wasn’t sure if the band was trying to portray themselves as tough guys, but both musically and vocally it’s soft. If “Knife Fights and Butterflys” sends out mixed messages, “Lust and Lies Spell Flashing Lights” is vocally more Housemartins than Killswitch.
This debut offering is in summary a piece of modern Metalcore. It’s not original or anything special and the band certainly needs more definition and direction to stand out from the crowd, but what I will say about it is energetic and upbeat. I’m not sure if it’s supposed to be happy, but that’s what is thanks to the inherent melody on tracks like “Lust and Lights Spell Flashing Lights”. The last track “The Sirens Scream Assault” is the hookiest one of all and mixes it up quite well, without again being as hard-nosed as perhaps is the intention. It does have balls however, and if played more powerfully, would make a really good live track.
In spite of my reservations about the vocals and the unsuccessful attempt at being hard, heavy and dark, this album had a lot going for it and I enjoyed it. I suspect my teenage children would enjoy it more. Kill ‘em Dead Cowboy need to beef it up, but if you’re looking for a bit of energetic light metal with great hooky melodies, this’ll do nicely.
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