Reviewed by Tony Cummings

Their unexpected UK tour last year with Beloved helped create a bit of interest for these hardcore rockers from Washington. And certainly this album is a step up in quality from the band's previous set, the rather formulaic 'Four Wall Blackmail'. Clearly the band are endeavouring to graft a more commercial element onto the brutal sounds of hardcore. How that is done is of course the question. Occasionally the haunting sung refrains conflict with the growled vocal thing. But more often it works well. "Vanus Empty" is a song which denounces the cruel pain of suicide, exuding the same power as a P.O.D. track. Brandon Pike's soaring vocals definitely bring drama to the band's sound while guitarists Zach Miles and Todd Osborn and percussionist Josh Shellabanger move beyond standard riffs to some intriguing experimentation. HM magazine claimed that with this album "Dead Poetic have staked their claim as a rock'n'roll force to be reckoned with." I wouldn't disagree.

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