Dirtfedd give us a pretty diverse metalcore album here. Opener “Solute” is sort of a heavier Diecast with a strong frat boy theme. I mean, the chorus is “drink, fight, fuck”. That’s about as frat boy as you can get, and the lyrical content never really strays from this mentality. “Trained To Kill” doesn’t deviate too far, musically. It’s a huge chug fest, really. The production is pretty bottom heavy and meaty, courtesy of Slipknot’s M. Shawn Crahan (the clown, I think).

Third track “Said The Spider To The Fly” is when things change up a bit. The meathead metalcore is put on the back burner and they adopt some nicely done galloping melodeath, ala At The Gates. Vocals change up regularly, which is nice considering his forceful singing voice can sometimes get on my nerves. Death growls are well done, though.

You probably wouldn’t know this band has a full time keyboardist until the short instrumental “Blues”, when he actually takes a few brief but well done solos. The keys add a lot of flavor on the title track. He opts for a vintage organ patch, and the outcome sounds akin to “Baying of The Hounds”.  As the album progresses, keys are more and more present, which is a welcome addition to most of the songs.

All in all, this isn’t a bad record. Like I said, not really my cup of tea but don’t let that stop you. In fact, this album doesn’t have many really weak spots.  Sometimes the songwriting is a little bland and a few tracks go on for too long.  But it’s a relatively well rounded album which shouldn’t dissapoint the fans of this genre.