1. Intro
2. Ignite the Fury
3. The Wraith
4. Confessions of a Self-Righteous Mind

Intro tracks are a great way to set the scene for an album, and often give the listener a feeling that something epic to behold will ensue. Why on earth you need an intro track before just 3 other tracks is beyond me. From this intro it seemed I may be treated to a wad of Cradle of Filth type black metal, but it wasn’t to be. Instead it’s a standard metalcore EP full of the same ripped-off guitar riffs, harmonics and breakdowns from any other generic band of this style. The vocals have some good power behind them, but the contour of the lines often bear little relation to the syntax therein, with emphasis either on words in unusual places (by means of changing from low growls to demonic screams) or on none at all, making for monotonous, sad times.

The pace of the songs are pretty good, with nicely structured arrangements of each verse and breakdown, but the melodies and chord sequences are uninspiring, unoriginal and don’t feel like they’re leading anywhere, there’s no tension and no excitement.

www.myspace.com/echoesfall

1. Descent into Chaos
2. Devil with Angel Wings
3. War Drums
4. Crack Addict Logic

Firstly, I’m pleased that Red Mist have opted for their tracks to be based around chord sequences and guitar licks rather than the endless heavy riffing adopted by loser-metal bands like Lamb of God. Not that the sound that Red Mist have got is original, it’s kind of an amalgam of all the doom and hardcore metal you can conjure up from In Flames’ vocals and rolling drums to Slayer’s dual guitar lines.

The variation in the vocals is actually pretty nice, he’s got a fair few different tones in there, adopting different timbres to match the intensity of the lyrics or backing, but always throwing it out hard and rough without pretense.

There’s enough breakdowns in the tracks to keep metalheads rocking out without going over the top and the tracks are well structured without a feeling that they’re going on too long (which can often be a gripe of mine towards this kind of metal).

I can rock to this, it’s kind of safe and balanced but I’m not sure it’s massively memorable.

www.myspace.com/redmistuk

1. Road to Enlightenment
2. The Great Storm Upon Us
3. Follow the Raven
4. Shred

Notanumber have clearly gone down the well-trodden path of fusing kicking metal riffs with screams and harmonised, big choruses. The combinations they end up with are nowhere near original, rather sounding like their aim was to sound like Killswitch Engage, but rock out a bit harder on the breakdowns, which they often do and I’ll praise them for going over the top on that front, but I fear for their lack of dynamics. After listening to this CD I kind of feel like I’ve beaten up, shouted at and forced to stare into a 100 watt lamp for 20 minutes, save a couple of small respites in “Follow the Raven”.

Some of the elements I enjoyed were the transitions between the various sections of each track; Notanumber found innovative ways and effects to get from one part to the next. The guitar solos were also reasonably well constructed and catchy, if a little ’safe’.

The lyrics, from what I could make out, are pretty cliched, which is a shame from a reviewer’s point of view, but I suppose it makes it easier for fans to catch on to the words.

Mostly though, I wish that Notanumber would tone down the intensity for more extended periods in their tracks to give a little more variation. I’m exhausted.

1. Empires
2. Paint the Sky
3. Worlds Apart

I love it when CDs start with a real kick in the teeth, the challenge, though, is making the rest of the music live up to the standard set at the beginning. Heights set the scene with an epic combination of soaring guitar and synth solos set over grinding guitar chords and leave us crashing down to Earth with a gutteral, screaming heap of hardcore metal.

A good range of varied articulations of different riffs keeps the sound interesting and when when the brutality meets the calm, surprisingly it works, and the layers of different emotions and feelings within the music are powerful.

A passionate and moderately high-pitched, Converge-like scream is often interspersed with understated, post-hardcore-esque melodic vocals with a few gang-shouts in there to hammer the odd chorus home.

With this little 3-tracker of a CD, it’s all about those various distinct level of music that have been carefully constructed so that on each listen there’s a new element to notice, a new tune or effect to prick up your ears.

Strong and compelling stuff.

http://www.myspace.com/weareheights

1. This is the End
2. Renounce
3. Own Worst Enemy

As metal goes, this is quite heavy. Heavy in the sense that it’s got a slowish pulse, repetitive and deep shit-kicking riffs and a minimal amount of vocal melody, with most of the vocals screamed somewhere between Slipknot and Devildriver.

So, this 3-tracker begins great with ultra-discord power riffs, whistling guitar harmonics and some of the most angst-riddden metal vocals I’ve heard for quite a while. From there on it’s downhill for a bit I’m afraid. The second track “Renounce”, has some good moments, but the melodic vocal sections are very ill-advised and produced too loud and the lead guitar lines are totally dull.

I’m hoping that track 3 “Own Worst Enemy” isn’t a Lit cover, and fortunately it isn’t, it’s more of a bouncy Pantera tune, with some good guitar lines, but not nearly enough variation to justify over four-and-a-half minutes of music, it just gets old pretty quick.

This kind of metal is good when it’s done right, and Extreme O.D. are on their way there, but lose their way a little with the second two tracks.

http://www.myspace.com/extremeod