WhenBulletsFail - Demo EP
2004 - Self released
By Philip Whitehouse
You'll have to forgive any vagueness of details about this review, dear readers - this EP was handed to me as part of a compilation put together by a mate of mine, and as such doesn't include such niceties as track titles. However, I do know that the first seven tracks comprise Telford metalcore band WhenBulletsFail's first demo, and he's been bugging me to review them for ages - so, here we go.
From the opening jangly guitars and plaintive vocals, you're immediately fooled into thinking that we're in for a fairly inoffensive emo offering, but at the one minute mark, some pretty punishing riffage and scattergun drumming explodes into the mix, and we can see we're on territory previously treaded by the likes of Poison The Well and Killswitch Engage. The riffs range between crushing machine-gun stutters of palm muted E-chords, trad-metal esque duel harmonies, and tremolo-picked upper register trills, ensuring a varied and engaging listening experience from track to track.
The bass generally sticks with punctuating the root notes and supplementing the kick drums, but from time to time provides a counterpoint of it's own to a given melody with some nice slides up and down the fretboard. The drumming is generally well executed with varied, impressive fills, but occasionally the faster double-kick work seems a little stuttered and loose. The dual vocals sit in the 'one guy doing hardcore screams and some clean vox, one guy doing exclusively clean vox' camp - and sadly, these clean vocals are the main sticking point of the record. Somewhat nasal, rather forced, and not particularly powerful, they kind of let down the powerful sound of the rest of the record.
Also, the band aren't exactly the tightest of groups. Occasionally WhenBulletsFail's enthusiasm overshoots their ability, and you can hear the guitars beating the drums to the next fill, or notes somewhat sloppily mingling into one another due to slight differences in timing. However, these niggles aside, the songs in themselves are memorable, well-written, and strike an excellent balance between hell-for-leather velocity pummelling and more grandiose, melodic arrangements. I can easily envision them being an absolutely crushing live proposition, dodgy clean vocals or no. With better production, a few more months' rehearsal, and possibly some singing lessons, WhenBulletsFail could very well find themselves rising far above their peers. They have brutality in spades, they know how to handle their instruments, and can knock together a catchy tune with a pummeling breakdown and still throw in an acoustic emo number at the end (which initially is somewhat cringeworthy, but gradually becomes quite endearing).
A rough gem then, worthy of picking up and checking out if only to chart the beginnings of a band which well, I'm sure, prove themselves to be more than worthy contenders.
7/10
WhenBulletsFail's Official Website
2004 - Self released
By Philip Whitehouse
You'll have to forgive any vagueness of details about this review, dear readers - this EP was handed to me as part of a compilation put together by a mate of mine, and as such doesn't include such niceties as track titles. However, I do know that the first seven tracks comprise Telford metalcore band WhenBulletsFail's first demo, and he's been bugging me to review them for ages - so, here we go.
From the opening jangly guitars and plaintive vocals, you're immediately fooled into thinking that we're in for a fairly inoffensive emo offering, but at the one minute mark, some pretty punishing riffage and scattergun drumming explodes into the mix, and we can see we're on territory previously treaded by the likes of Poison The Well and Killswitch Engage. The riffs range between crushing machine-gun stutters of palm muted E-chords, trad-metal esque duel harmonies, and tremolo-picked upper register trills, ensuring a varied and engaging listening experience from track to track.
The bass generally sticks with punctuating the root notes and supplementing the kick drums, but from time to time provides a counterpoint of it's own to a given melody with some nice slides up and down the fretboard. The drumming is generally well executed with varied, impressive fills, but occasionally the faster double-kick work seems a little stuttered and loose. The dual vocals sit in the 'one guy doing hardcore screams and some clean vox, one guy doing exclusively clean vox' camp - and sadly, these clean vocals are the main sticking point of the record. Somewhat nasal, rather forced, and not particularly powerful, they kind of let down the powerful sound of the rest of the record.
Also, the band aren't exactly the tightest of groups. Occasionally WhenBulletsFail's enthusiasm overshoots their ability, and you can hear the guitars beating the drums to the next fill, or notes somewhat sloppily mingling into one another due to slight differences in timing. However, these niggles aside, the songs in themselves are memorable, well-written, and strike an excellent balance between hell-for-leather velocity pummelling and more grandiose, melodic arrangements. I can easily envision them being an absolutely crushing live proposition, dodgy clean vocals or no. With better production, a few more months' rehearsal, and possibly some singing lessons, WhenBulletsFail could very well find themselves rising far above their peers. They have brutality in spades, they know how to handle their instruments, and can knock together a catchy tune with a pummeling breakdown and still throw in an acoustic emo number at the end (which initially is somewhat cringeworthy, but gradually becomes quite endearing).
A rough gem then, worthy of picking up and checking out if only to chart the beginnings of a band which well, I'm sure, prove themselves to be more than worthy contenders.
7/10
WhenBulletsFail's Official Website
