Lost Reflection-Scarecrowd

On the cover of the album you see what looks like a scare crow of some sort. It looks quite morbid. The dark clouds in the background tell you that a storm is coming, even the pair of red eyes scream it. That evil is now upon you, and there's not a damn thing that you can do about it. There is no running, there is no hiding, you are the scare crow stuck upon that hanger.

Track 1. The Enemy U Know- The album begins with something approaching from afar, dark and quite foreboding. An explosion of slick METAL crunch grabs your attention, and pulls it close. I like how the vocals enunciate, but also echo through the track. He's got a somewhat familiar yet distinct vocal style. The harmony vocals in a well timed manner enter the mix, they contrast very well with the lead vocals. The song has some tidy and interestingly crisp grooves. There are parts where you want to clench your fists and squeeze your devils horns about throwing them towards the sky. The song ends finally on a last driving hook. Tied perfectly together with the powerful dominating drums. Vocal presence, and melody here is quite awesome. The guitar solo was fucking sweet, thought the song died down and got slow, it exploded in your face again for a great lasting impression. Great song to open this album with.

Track 2. Never Enough- A few crisp yet powerful drum beats begin this song. The melody is quickly established through some catchy riffs. Some delicious bass lines make crucial headway here, they slide perfectly through the mix. A crunching palm mute begins ownership of your mind. The vocal melody is in some ways subtle, but it feels like it moves at a decent pace with the song itself. Vocal harmonies are quite exceptional here. Loving this slow yet heavy groove, decent chord progression. Interesting lyrical subject matter. The music opens up, revealing a melodically tasty deliverance of thoroughly rocking metal. It bends and pushes the envelope, of it's own sound parameters. The lyrics are repeated one last time as the final chord fades away. There is a slick yet well defined aggression here.

Track 3. Scarecrowd- The sound of church bells, grow quite quickly into your ears, as does a massively delicious distortion. A powerful and mighty evil sound cascades deep into your mind. The vocals rip and turn perfectly with expression and melody within the mix. Electric squeals are well placed by the guitars. The guitar hooks are thunderous and tasty. A slow yet heavy palm muted groove that is a subtle slice of hell, a darkness, a mighty yet unknown wonder which this band is for your ears to behold. The vocals intertwine as if a crowd of singers has taken hold of the microphone. Both are quite masterful. A sick and twisted turn of events unfolds upon the lead guitar, bringing the listener to a depth of haste they never knew they could reach. The solo is a nasty taste of awesome freedom within ones own mind. The slow crunching yet echoing groove is quite catchy, totally digging that. A twisted take on an average farm tool, tons of creativity within this band, musically and lyrically. You know the end is near, but you wish it not to be.

Track 4. Father Murphy- Some crisp and interesting riffs begin this siege of metal. A cool and catchy groove quickly takes over, and puts you the listener on notice. The dark encompassing riffs seem to close in on you, but then they bust wide open, almost in an alternating fashion. By the time you get to this point in the album you begin to notice an interesting formula and trend with this band. Breathtaking guitar licks, excellent singing. A heavy and captivating groove picks you up, carries you under it's slow and creepy wings. Some of the singing repeats like before in the previous songs. This song however ends in a thought provoking fashion, upon the clatter of a fading crash and the words of the vocalist, containing magnificent expression.

Track 5. Hail to Rock- A riff jumps and prances about, a second one follows but with a much more HEAVIER bout of thorough might.The vocals enter as the song descends into a rapidly awesome mix of slow palm muted metal. The hooks here are decent but they feel strikingly similar to ones that have come before in this album. Similar vocal styles as well with the usage of the vocal harmonies etc. However changes occur in the song, things get darker, as an EPIC wah laden solo overtakes you. The clean pouncing riffs again march onwards like a stubborn pride. The heavy crunching metal grinds along slowly, yet with it's tight and powerful hard hitting drums. The squealing riffs make an appearance in the mix again at just the right time to spice things up. A bit of a winding down of the drum beat begins, and with the way the melody trickles by in heavy bunches, you begin to see an awe inspiring end is at hand, it does not disappoint.

Track 6. Faith of Fear?- A cruel and yet awesome heavy riff quickly inspires and pushes it's path through the mix. You notice changes and similar themes in this music. Heavy palm muted riffs, though just a bit different. The same hard nosed groove, with great timing and crisp drums. The bass slithers out of the mix for a moment only for the rhythm guitar to crunch everything alive in sight. The lead guitar just takes control of the track. For a moment your treated to a possible harmonic solo if my ears are hopefully not fooling me. You notice the subtle change in the music. Good sound quality as I have thus noticed through this album, decent riffs.

Track 7. Sleepless- An unexpected change, thrown from left field. A perfect clean guitar with a subtle effect is used. A very tight beat is tapped. The melody is introduced with the vocals. The song is a subtle feeling of corny, awe inspiring, and enduring all rolled into one. As a metal head your not used to ballads, but this sounds like a decent one. A subtle crunch, though heavy, with beautiful subject matter. The vocals are particularly powerful on this track. Really digging the hell out of the guitar licks here, it's a definite change from their usual self, an up right Metal ballad, that could quite possibly stand the test of time within any mind. A trickle of catchy heart grabbing thunder here and there, with a true feeling of a world set a fire by love and greed. There is an endless amount of passion and scared trust within this song. Good stuff, superb melodies.

Track 8. No One- Another very interesting opening. Very catchy and unique right of the bat. Digging the alternative percussion. Melody is introduced immediately with the powerful vocals. The heavy dual punch of the palm muted beast guitars is like a trickle of crazy thunder in the night. It is a slow burning metal thunder than kills, soaking your soul in a fire that burns for an eternity on into the next lifetime. Some previous themes, but new ones as well. They have a pattern of sort of jumping back and forth between styles of riffs they use in their songs. Again you notice the changes, and you want more, oh so much more. And that lead, and the bass bite so damn hard that your devils horns scream mightily to the sky. The alternative percussive instrument is a catchy addition to the track. It's subtle use was a stroke of genius that allowed the song to pretty much change directions and turn some where more awesome and aggressive, great ending too!

Track 9. Rock 'n' Roll Nation- A strumming clean guitar echoes, a catchy tune. Cymbals go from clatter to boom as an impressive yet slow grooving metal machine is brought to life. For a moment it's similar to whats come before, but then its a flavor of something new. Similar vocal styles here but with more guts and soul. The abrupt parts where the song cuts out and starts again, is pretty cool, but they use the same alternative wood tapping percussive instrument to change the direction of the song. That gets a bit old. It's a bit of cool and catchy here and there, but also in places, not so much. The ending here is damn good as well, as the drummer goes mad and into an aggressive spurt of wild thunder, all while the same repeated lines are repeated again, though the piece is still interesting.

Track 10. Armageddon- A growing chorus of vocalists ascends to the sky within your frame of mind. A sweet yet groovy bass enters quickly. A heavy groove drips and trickles in. The catchy groove is a familiar one but cool, containing an awesome darkness, that none shall question. Interesting vocal melodies here, a subtle evil feel is in the air. Exceptional guitar riff melodies that sound like they belong in a place themed with Halloween. Riffs reign onward upon you with warnings of death and destruction. The songs theme reigns heavy here, with an awesome burst of the groovy bass. The solo kicks in very strongly along with the massive groove. Another sweet slice of hell with a dual harmonic solo! This album has been an interesting review to say the least, some repeating stuff here and there, but overall I must say I really dig their sound, their creativity as well as their unquestionable talent. And this song really just drives it home especially with that ending. An explosion, signaling the end, a fitting end to a juicy deliverance of thoroughly tasty rocking metal!

Studio mix quality here is complete without question, balance was perfect throughout the album. Really the only bad thing I can think of is some of the riffs from song to song in places seemed like very similar set of heavy palm muted riffs. In a way they also had certain flavors of their own, some subtle some overreaching and mighty. The only other complaint I have is the over usage of the wood tapping percussive instrument to change direction or pace of songs a few times, that was used in at least two songs, back to back songs actually. But this is damn good and entertaining music none the less. A few places in this music were a bit corny, but the awe inspiring, creative, and intelligent moments more than made up for things that may have bored you or annoyed you just a tiny bit. Rating 8/10