Reviewed by Peter John Willoughby

Wrench In The Works are an aggressive hardcore band from Connecticut, who describes their style as "contempo-noise" and is "savagely majestic". So you have to wonder how they are going to sound different from the other Facedown bands. They are a three-piece consisting of Andy Nelson on drums, Justin Mehl on vocals and guitar, and Darrell Tauro on vocals and bass. Also there are guitar and vocal contributions from members of Life In Your Way. They have been compared to Converge, Deadguy and Zao. The main problem with this album was that it was fairly predictable metalcore with the usual breakdowns and growly vocals. In the middle of "One Foot Out Of Hell" I couldn't quite believe what I was hearing, so I had to check the lyric sheet. They had suddenly switched into hardcore worship and were singing "More love/more power/more of you in my life/more of you/less of me." What had happened to the brutally aggressive attitude? Had they nipped out of the room for a minute and got someone else to fill in for them! My favourites were the last two songs "Faith As A Virus" and "The Lost Art Of Heaping Coal". However, I'm not sure that it justifies having to wade through the eight previous songs.

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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