INHUMAN: Black Reign CD. Old school hardcore w. a punk-rock twist. N.Y’s freshest & hardest!

Description

SAMPLES: www.allmusic.com/album/black-reign-mw0000993960

1 Prelude to Misery 1:45
2 Life Is Miserable James, Scondotto 1:59
3 Killing Me James, Scondotto 3:07
4 Darker Than You Think James, Scondotto 2:11
5 Uprising James, Scondotto 2:11
6 Dwell Nakleh, Scondotto 4:02
7 Rebellion James, Scondotto 2:03

Their last full-length was basically old school hardcore with a few more metallic influences, but this time around things are heavier and theres also more of a punk influence. The vocals are also a lot different. They’re more diverse as far as singing and screaming (more of the former) and they’re also not as high as they used to be. Musically theres still a thread of old school hardcore in there, but the songs are really rocked out and darkly melodic as well. Its sort of like a heavy hardcore take on the Misfits or something like that to some degree (complete with some “whoa ohhh” vocals on occasion). “Darker Than You Think” and “Uprising” are the only songs that at times bring to mind the Inhuman of old: Straightforward chord progressions, a little bit of speed, heavy breaks, memorable vocals that are shouted in key, etc. The last two songs are live and I actually like ’em a lot. They’re older songs that have more of a metalcore vibe going on, but they’re good songs (especially the awesome “Dwell”) and the live recording isn’t half bad at all. I also like the fact that the performance is energetic and theres a lot of crowd interaction that makes the songs something different and worthwhile.
Vocals sound really good and the guitars have enough midrange to add some clarity.
I like the layout for the most part. The color scheme is good, I like the bleak imagery, and the “Brooklyn Bastards” design under the CD tray fucking rules. Lyrically the songs are all personal, and as you should glean from song titles like “Life is Miserable” and “Darker Than You Think”, this shit ain’t pretty.

Overall this is VERY nice EP. I’m intrigued. The band is sort of rediscovering themselves through a transitional phase at the moment & this is definitely promising… I’m glad they’re still kickin’.