A brand new 5-tracker from the rock trio that can justify their position as Dundee's fastest rising, potentially most successful and, without argument, finest heavy metal trio, around today. The astonishing thing is the speed with which this band are progressing, on all fronts. Take this CD for example - compared to their previous offering, less than a year ago, the quality is fantastic, the production equally so; the compositions are infinitely stronger, the performances immeasurably more confident - in essence, this band has evolved, and then some!!
The opener is "Landslide", introduced with a phased squall of electric guitar before that mighty bass and those crunching drums come hammering down as the guitar riff blazes. The guitar stops when the vocals appear, as the dynamics of the arrangement come into play, the menacing sounding vocal just perfect over the storming rhythm section. But then it all sudently comes together and takes off briefly before returning to the previous structure. The drum work is mighty and that fuzzed bass just awesome, while the vocals veer from a menacing grin to all-out holler. There's a mix of the phased guitar and restraint before the whole thing erupts in a roar of fire as all the elements crash down and charge to the end of the song, the vocals and riff now carrying even more emotion than before, all truly addictive, powerful and simply awesome stuff. "Assisted Suicide" starts with a rollercoaster of vocals, cyclical guitar riff and rhythm section, before the rhythm section stomps into hurricane mode as the guitar riff explodes, only then for the song to return to its opening statement, only even more powerfully, before exploding once again, but just as you think this might be the pattern, the band display their undoubted knack of arrangement by taking the song down a wholly unexpected path as this massivwe slice of rolling, resonant drumming and disembowelling bass, herald this ringing chiming guitar lead over the top as snarled vocals slowly climb before the whole song explodes back into a nuclear holocaust of riffing and fiercely strong vocals, as it ends abruptly for final maximum impact. "Guilty" takes things down a notch or two, the restrained voice cursing along over lurching drum rhythms and the shimmering, slightly out-of-focus electric guitar and lilting bass figures, creating quite a discomforting but addictive feel, before the whole thing erupts into this massive slice of mid-paced but dense riffing as the vocals continue at the same pace, only stronger sounding, before the return to the verse gives the hook even more impact, The song swings from the disquieting emotion of the verses to the positive force of the choruses with a flow that is breathtaking, while the bass comes upfront and strikes out with the guitar, before the guitar forges ahead in this lead break of positively psychedelic proportions only then to scorch into this red hot solo above the punishing mid-paced thunder of the rhythm section, the now yearning vocal suddenly returning for a new twist on the hook as the song then subsides back into the verse, with the drumming now really noticeable - and then it ends, Stunning! "Sublime" folows a similar path in terms of arrangement, only here we get the embodiment of what Core are all about as the riffs and rhythms that open the song in supercharged fashion, just typify the massive metal that this band is capable of producing. The way the song switches between this huge intense sea of metal density that are the choruses and the menacing counterpoints of emotive and musical building that are the hooks, is a mark of the absolute and undoubted talent that these guys have, and simply put, it's classic rock. Finally we come to "Rewind", and another fierce, awesome sounding heavy metal riff opens the proceedings, the trio hammering down as the vocals really let rip, the singer doing such a great job at conveying the lyrics with force and structure, possessing all the power of a death or black metal vocalist, only really singing and delivering real lyrics that you can understand, with a sense of passion and emotion and fire, that is the mark of a great metal singer in the making. The middle of the song drops down into this furnace of restrained psychedelic metal a trademark of the band in that they can mix the two styles with ease, something none else has yet grasped to this level and got right, before the whole thing bursts into life as the title is shouted out over this surging tidal wave of huge sounding guitars and mighty rhythms the drumming pounding out a path to the abrupt and breathtaking end of the song.
AS you'll gather, this is quality rock of the highest order, and if this is the real start of the band as a force to be reckoned with in the world of modern metal, then you can bet your bottom dollar that there's a lot more to come - the prospect is astonishing as to what could be achieved, putting Dundee on the UK metal map for the first time - and this could be the band to do it!