Reviewed by Christian Cunningham

With the rush of deathcore bands out there, many a group are in danger of sinking into the general soup of mediocrity that floods the sound of most well intentioned noise merchants. Earth From Above are blessed with two good sounding frontmen who dish out low end growls and high end shrieks respectively and it's the vocals that is this band's forte. Lyrically they take no "heathen" prisoners, proclaiming the depths of their faith with every rasp-throated lungful. What is frustrating about this release is that the guitars and drums are nailing some colossal riffs to the wall but the production on this is really rather horrible. When the band pulse and pound with bowel-shaking breakdowns, and no subtlety in the sound is required, Earth From Above really do sound excellent. There are plenty of riffs throughout to make you want that all important next listen but a multitude of soundscapes have been missed out due to the guitars' muddy sound; lead guitar work is particularly neglected and sounds like some parts would have benefited from rerecording, since it's pretty sloppy overall. There is some songwriting skill on display on several tracks, but then some out of place riffs (making uncomfortable sounding bedfellows) in the next track that kill the feel of the overall tune. On tracks like "Fatum" and "Salvage" Earth From Above sound like they've been doing this for years. It's visceral, desperate, sweaty and occasionally glorious, with breakdowns to bulldoze buildings with. This is mostly good stuff with some mediocre riffs hanging about in nooks and crannies - nothing a really good houseclean wouldn't sort out for the next release. Here's hoping they get some more money for a better production and more time in the studio because Earth From Above have "it", they just need "it" dragged out of them.

The opinions expressed in this article are not necessarily those held by Cross Rhythms. Any expressed views were accurate at the time of publishing but may or may not reflect the views of the individuals concerned at a later date.

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