There's No Sympathy For The Dead

Chronique

This Las Vegas quintet's initial claim to fame was winning a radio station contest and earning a slot opening for My Chemical Romance and Alkaline Trio. They've subsequently attracted an ever-expanding following due to their notoriously engaging live show. Listening to their debut five-song EP, it's easy to hear how their energetic brand of screamo might get Hot Topic teens all hot and bothered in a testosterone-fueled mosh pit, but there's not an awful lot of emotional depth beneath the fire and fury. The ferocious drumming of Robert Ortiz drives the opening "Dragging Dead Bodies in Blue Bags Up Really Long Hills" with an invigorating rush of adrenaline. But Ronnie Radke's clichéd Cookie Monster growl and ear-shattering screams only make lyrics like "It's been so long and I've waited/I've been waiting for so long/Don't fight/It's hard to breathe when you're buried alive" seem all the more inane. It also doesn't help matters that there's not much variation between that song and the title track, which boasts the exact same energy and aggression, not to mention a similar melody and sing/scream/growl formula. Thankfully, they switch things up on "The Ransom," slowing down the tempo a bit for a song that wouldn't sound out of place on the soundtrack of a Fast and the Furious flick. Not that that's necessarily a good thing, but at least it's a change of pace. These guys certainly rock hard enough to get your average Warped Tour audience riled up to a fierce frenzy. But lyrically and melodically, they ultimately fail to measure up to the more accomplished bands they're being compared to, such as Senses Fail and Taking Back Sunday.

© Bret Love /TiVo