Judging the book by its cover is a safe bet this time around. Looking at the band name and the album title, one definitely knows what to expect when delving into an album of this nature; gang vocals and breakdowns galore.

“Relentless” starts the album out with screaming police car sirens before the actual pummeling kicks in few seconds later, instantly reducing your brain into a mush. Macho vocals spray lyrics dealing with beating people up and all types of ill shit while strong burly breakdowns help the surge of aggression reach a definite boiling point. I couldn’t have it any other way; it’s Lionheart―you know what’s up!

After the opening track the band continues with their onslaught adding in a few solos and some thrashy Slayer-styled riffage. The only downside to this madness is that the album is a little too long for this style of mayhem. After three or four tracks―or swings from a baseball bat―you’ve seen it all: Pure tough guy hardcore, bruised with breakdowns and sliced with mean vocals. Those are the key ingredient here.

Even though Built on Struggle is a little long, I still loved every minute of it and will keep on jamming this album all year. For some, the sheer amount of breakdowns will make it or break it but for those that love bands like Thick as Blood or Donnybrook…here’s yet another album that you all have to check out.

“Overdraft” starts the album with an industrial intro leading into the devastating and hateful “6 Gallon Gasoline Stomach.” It amazes me how beautifully the intro merges into the first track. From the moment the first note is hit you know this is going to be an album that will knock you on your ass. On “Wasted Potential” the band experiments with some intense and evil blackened melodies that appear over a few of the segments in the song. The song eventually fades out and bleeds into an interlude called “Frequencies,” which is downright chilling as they continue with that industrial edge. Giving it a cold feeling that eventually sticks with the instrumental all the way to the title track. On the title track “America’s Most Haunted” King Conquer keeps the cold industrial feel and ups the ante on the aggression levels of this album. With the rest of the album King Conquer touches base with a lot more melodies and gives it a kind of depressing nature. Still retaining it’s hateful and breakdown filled path dedicated to the destruction of humanity.

The production on this beast of an album is beyond amazing. Everything is clear and audible yet still containing a bit of filth. The vocals are great, instantly bringing to mind bands like Molotov Solution and I Declare War and the instruments and audio sound mixed to perfection. These guys know their instruments and present us with some amazing talent that needs to be heard.

This album isn’t for the faint of heart. This album bleeds destruction. Most people will probably pass on this but that is your loss. For those of us that still follow and love deathcore. Here is an album that needs to be played.

9 songs, 22 minutes of very impressive, incredibly hefty, heaving Straight edge hardcore/metal that’s some of the most impressive of this style I’ve heard since Black My Heart and Redline. Also, because some of the huge, open note breakdowns, this will appeal to the likes of The Acacia Strain, Emmure and Liferuiner, though it’s certainly more rooted in typical hardcore than just pure heft.

There’s not much else to say other than I found my self digging this quite a bit, the songs are too the point and direct with no messing about, intro’s, hidden tracks or needless filler. The vocals are rough and gruff with no attempt to deliver anything else. The moments between breakdowns are a competent two step or gravelly hardcore; nothing too fancy, but it works and actually at times, it’s pretty good such as the rock out during “Northern Battersea”, somber closing of “Death and its Kingdom” and “Unswitched Breakers” which break up such uber hefty tracks like opener “Apollyon”, “Creepy Man Show”, “Seawater Vomit” and “Insurgent Squared” which lurch and lope with very ample heft and some modicum of intelligence, structure an actual song writing skill rather that just pure pummeling.

Armed with an earthy, heavy production and the expected straight edge lyrical prose, The Miles Between have delivered an impressive straight edge assault that’s one of the better efforts of the last couple of years.

I rather enjoyed the 2006 debut, Existence from North Carolina’s The Demonstration as it displayed the melodic chops of the North Carolina metalcore scene with a confidence and heavy dose of Prayer For Cleansing/Between the Buried and Me guitar work. However, guitarists Charles Matheny and vocalist Trevor Underwood have since left the band, replaced by Rob Holder and Zachary Messick respectively, and the difference is immediate and not good.

So now With 4/5ths of the lineup being Killwhitneydead, The Demonstration, while certainly displaying some of the shredding elements of their peers and prior release, have now, basically due to new vocalist Messick, have tuned into a more poppy, punk, Victory Records styled (A Day to Remember, Farewell to Freeway, Across Five Aprils, etc), neutered metalcore band. Which is a shame as remaining guitarist David Schoaf seems to have a Chris Storey (All Shall Perish) and Paul Waggoner (BTBAM) knack for delivering some truly sumptuous solos and arpeggios, but its all for naught as Messick croons with pop punk clean vocals and the rest of the band seem content to ply a watered down, contrived and radio friendly form of MYV ready popcore.

Sure, Messick has a few growls and there’s plenty of requisite breakdowns, but they seem hollow, contrived and buried in galloping, sugary punk based verse chorus structures (“The Marionette”, “Car Rides”, “Pretty Bones”, “Acceptance (Wear Your Choices Like A Crown)”), negating the sometimes killer guitar work that can be heard here and there (“Deadpan”, start of “A Very Calculating Snake”, “We’re All Alone (We’re All Lonely)”, “Character Flaws”), but its just not enough to make me like the whole tracks or the album any more or even consider this the same band that delivered Existence.

“From L.A to Nashville” and closing pop ballad number “How it Going to Be” put the nail in the coffin and forced attempts at something a little more urgent like “Golden Hour” only serve to show how limp wristed the rest of the album is and how promising this band once was.

Though most might cringe at yet another group of snot nosed kids who can’t even buy a beer releasing a ‘death metal’ album, the fact is, this lot are pretty darn talented. They are more brutal and technical than Fate, and their presentation is a far more pure death metal, in fact, I’d say Burning the Masses have more in common skill and delivery wise to The Faceless, and at times I was thinking to my self that Mediaskare has found the deathcore equivalent to Decapitated.

With a sticker claiming the CD for fans of Between the Buried and Me and Necrophagist to reel in all sorts of curious fans, the fact is Mind Control is a tech death metal album with some breakdowns and some pretty nifty solos, making them far more appealing than the usual Bring Me The Horizon styled tripe that’s so vogue now.

Dave Montenegro has a standard roar/growl, but the rest of his cohorts have a grasp of dynamics and talent far age their age group. The guitar skills of Chris Valenzuela and Arde Ostowari are on display through each song, though flamenco themed interlude “Chupacabra” and very entertaining closing instrumental number “Galactic Abduction”, (no do dissimilar to Fate’s “Vultures” as far as pure melodic shred) put them at front and center. Even with three tracks from their Volatile Existence demo (“Mind Control”, “Cyanide”, “Nailgun Massacre”) the material on Mind Control blends perfectly in short bursts (2-3 minutes) of crumbling, blasting, technical death metal with deathcore undertones. The production is stout, the lyrics are not to forced death metal or stupid (despite the bands apparent love of Natures own) and the frequent solos give the material a short in its teenage arm that belies the bands age.

Tracks like “Moltres”, “Euphoria Ends”, the aptly titled “Prodigy”, can go toe to toe with most of the years second tier of tech death metal and deathcore releases (Whitechapel, Carnifex, Catalepsy, After The Burial, The Faceless, Days of Betrayal, Suicide Silence, Glasgow Grin, Fate Happy Face, etc), but I’ll admit they have not quite got that ‘wow’ factor and I imagine their age and deathcore stigma will keep too many older folks from checking them out. Still, with these guys barely out of diapers they only have room to grow, improve and make a real dent in the scene.

In a related note I have started my own label and my first signing is a group of deathcore kids from my daughters childcare called Diaper Rash, look for their first demo called “Teething is a Bitch” early next year.

While certainly close to the talent and ambition of Between the Buried and Me and their ilk (What’s he Building in There?, etc) , EAPZ are just lacking that level of cohesive brilliance that makes their material stand out. And while most of the album is of the more experimental, off the wall material with relatively little in the way of jerky hardcore that imbues BTBAM softer moments, both simply never gel or elevate the album beyond anything more than a curiosity listen.

Still, I Have Made My Bed In Darkness isn’t a bad album, the three peice is obscenely talented and its worth a listen for the more open minded of you curious about the BTBAM comparison, but it’s just an album that already requires a lot of attention due to its quirky spazzy gait, but then the payoff isn’t what you’d expect. When you wade through lengthy tracks like opener “Seeds”, “Every Waking Moment” or closer “Arendering”, run into slightly forced, short herky jerky numbers like “Hairdresser”, “Moonshoes” or “Ira Lore”, and ambient segues like “Anniversary Psalm” and “A Balloon Enters Kyoto City” , you expect the whole affair to ‘click’ as the musical adventurousness all comes together to form some transcendental experience, but it never does.

Now, to their credit, the album never comes off as an overdone, chaotic, random mess, as there is some restraint, especially considering the majority of experimentation that is displayed, and the band never elevate their metallic aggression (both vocally and musically) to BTBAM me like levels, and that ultimately may be what keeps the album luring in more extreme ‘metal’ fans and have more appeal to the likes of The Fall of Troy, Mars Volta, Tool, Filter and A Perfect Circle fans.

I’m not gonna spend much time here as there really isn’t that much to say. Following closely to another Arizona band, Job For A Cowboy (among a slew of others from abroad), ABBS offer nothing new to the field of deathcore. Now, I’ve stated before that I’m not really a stickler on originality, and I do love me a band that can rip off At the Gates riffs and do it well, but when you’re playing a style that every 3rd band getting a record deal is also playing, you better damn well bring the goods. There better be some outstanding hooks and killer riffs. Unfortunately here, ABBS do not have these things. The songs are all interchangeable, as are the riffs, breakdowns, etc. It’s quite tiresome really. Death is Swallowed in Victory, as you could probably guess, was not an enjoyable listen – it was a trial in patience and endurance of the mediocre.

Now, I’m not saying that ABBS cannot play, because they can. The evidence of this is all over the album – they have some chops. A good example of this (and perhaps a moment that I did quite enjoy) came about 2/3 of the way through “Ray Road”, where the ruckus dies down to really let shine a great and soulful sounding clean guitar solo. Actually, most of the solos are pretty damn good. It’s just a shame that they’re surrounded by such lackluster elements and songwriting.

Though the thing I enjoyed most about this album had to be the promo sleeve accompanying the album – it reads as follows: “Tucson, AZ’s A Breath Before Surfacing have exploded onto the underground metal scene with a new take on the Gothenburg metal sound that is turning the heads of metal fans all over the country. With ‘Death is Swallowed in Victory’, A Breath Before Surfacing are giving notice to the metal community that it’s time fore a change and they are nominating themselves to lead the movement. With non-stop touring planned for 2008, the band are determined to convert the masses with their brutal version of a metal movement.” This made me simultaneously roll my eyes and laugh hysterically. It also states that ABBS will impress fans of Job For a Cowboy, The Faceless and The Red Chord – that says it all.

Now, back to that dead horse.

Anyway, for those of you not in the know, With Dead Hands Rising, aint that new, in fact they had released their debut Behind Inquisition, back when deathcore was in its infancy (and in fact, when some of the absolute best albums of the sound were forged). A follow up mini CD appeared in 2005 before they disappeared into the ether, presumed to be a done deal. Then, a buzz of activity saw them up tools, get a new deal and finally put together a new record.

Fortunately, the bile, technical precision and ripping speed that characterized their early work are present on Expect Hell, in fact, if anything, all those components are overtly pronounced so that the band’s strongest assets are duly flexed and bought to the forefront of the listener’s awareness. Thus, the storming opener leads seamlessly into an exhumed classic, ‘Tourniquet Girl,’ which hits even harder then when it first appeared before leading into a meshed quartet (via the brief instrumental ‘Hammer of the Gods,’) which again all focus on the bands primary strengths .

If there is a criticism to be made, its that the band rarely step outside their comfort zone, the only real instance being the sub three minute instrumental, ‘Momentary Alphabetical Congruence,’ which sees the mingling of Metallica-esque leads and soothing piano. On ‘Ultima,’ there are brief flutters of melodic harmonics that interlace with the thrashing insanity but in the overall context of the piece, these are minimized in order to keep that t aforementioned bile is prominently propelled forth.

It wouldn’t have been entirely surprising if Expect Hell, had been a colossal let down. Especially due to the factors that he band has undergone line-up changes and that ever recurring theme that there are masses and masses of bands (and worldwide now) churning out this stuff, yet, in spite of the increasing levels of saturation, there still seems a place (at least for this scribe) for With Dead Hands Rising.

Despite the nagging, seething feeling burning inside of me to critically tear this apart it would in fact be grossly unfair to condemn The Ghost Inside to the musical Hades as they are clearly good at what they do and furthermore, they play their instruments with more skill then I ever could. But then again, how much longer can it go on that riffs that were fresh and vibrant 7 years ago are unearthed and exhumed, not once, not twice but a gazillion times. How much longer can the gallop, breakdown, smooth chorus, rinse, repeat formula continue to convince people that this is worthy of their time?

More so, how much longer is this stuff going to be relevant before it becomes an embarrassment, with you thinking, oh, another one of those bands, didn’t that shit die out (ok if you post on Lambgoat then I am sure you had the pleasure of this kudos about 6 years ago)? I like metalcore, in fact I love the stuff, so call me as guilty as any one of the 33,063 guilty parties that have submitted and become a friend of The Ghost Inside, because its people like us that are keeping this behemoth rolling, and whilst we are buying and listening, there is no doubt it will continue to clog airwaves.

But anyways, all this ranting has lead to digression from the salient point, the music. Yeah, it’s got everything you want and expect within the musical paradigm outlined above. At times there is a slight tinge of older Hope Conspiracy and a dash of Misery Signals to complement the gallop and breakdowns but nothing much else out of the ordinary and to be truthful, that is IT!!!!

So take it as you will, if you love metalcore to the point of having to own absolutely every single piece that is put forth then grab this too and add it your homogenous IPOD shuffle. IF you are a little more cautious and sceptical, then go for the new Shai Hulud, or label mates With Dead Hands Rising new opus (some tasty shit right there).

Get this CD.

I could leave my review at that and honestly feel that the correct audience is indeed going to check this solid debut out and the genre haters will steer clear of it, but I feel little more obligated to expand, though it will seem like a simple rehash of reviews from the above bands.

Though admittedly California’s ABRB present the short haired, tight shirt and pants image that most metal heads despise and this album is rife with clichés (acoustic number, gang chants, Euro melodies, huge grooves, dual vocals, Zach Ohren production, etc) this effort is surprisingly solid and for the genre, is certainly one of the better efforts; not a bad feat considering the saturation deathcore has been subjected to, and I found myself giving each track repeated listens.

I wont bore you with a track by track breakdown, as the formula (except for acoustic segue “Pouring Reign”) is pretty much the standard, blast, gallop, thunderous breakdown approach, but its is done exceptionally well. That being said, “My Fears Have Become My Phobias”, “Legends Never Die”, “Strife (Chug Chug)” and “In Dying Days” offered up the albums most satisfying slabs of slammariffic competence. Also, the Darkest Hour and The Black Dahlia Murder influenced speedier, melodic parts (“Brighter Side of Suffering”, “Beneath the Surface”, “Beautiful Mistake”) that break up the breakdowns are more than acceptable, showing the band has certainly done their homework.

Hardly groundbreaking, and I am sure most of you are sick of this ‘kids’ stuff, but those of you like me, who happen to enjoy it, should definitely check this lot out.