Bloodlined Calligraphy are an unusual lot to say the least, just look at the song titles. This is punctuated by the fact that their new singer is female, Ally French be her name, and she has got a voice most hardcore/extreme metal guys would love to have. Not an entirely new concept anymore but still worthy of note because she may be the first to be growling it out in the hardcore metal scene.
That being the case you can imagine she must be good....well let me tell you...she is good! haha
But she does not outshine the band who wrangle themselves somewhere between Black Dahlia Murder and As I Lay Dying. Lots of Death in the music but the hardcore breakdowns pop up from time to time and well, it's nothing blazingly new, but not bad either. Good production brings the point home efficiently enough and the songs are good, well written bouts of extremity.
Clever, or at least strange, song titles and a female singer are not enough to stand out in the overwrought, and starting to stagnate, realm of metalcore. The style seems to be more legit than Nu Metal ever thought about being but it is quickly suffocating from too many fingers in the cookie jar all bringing out the same flavor cookie.
That being said, this is a good EP and shows what the band is capable of. Advice: Add something no one else has....progress the style instead of imitate. A tall order indeed, but needed if metalcore and at least BLC should last more than two more years!
Still you could burn 5 bucks on something a whole lot worse! Check them out at
www.strikefirstrecords.comWritten by
David Sunday, August 22, 2004
Show all reviews by DavidRatingsDavid: 6/10Members: No members have rated this album yet.
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