Closer To Good
For the last few years, British metal has made somewhat of a comeback. The blossoming hardcore and grindcore genres have exploded out of the underground tape trading scene and has been embraced by American and European audiences alike. Bands like The Haunted, Shadows Fall and Trivium have opened up the mainstream metal fans to a whole new world of extreme metal, and the gap which needed to be filled has been briged by UK bands such as Byzantine and Nine Days To No One.
Infact, the speed at which metalcore has been embraced has almost cursed itself. Demonbreed follow in a long line of bands from the UK, citing their influences as The Haunted and Atreyu, but really they don't sound too much like either of them. Not to say there isn't the roaring fury of these bands here, or The Haunted's signtuare no-holds-barred thrashing guitar work, but there just isn't the spark on CD. It's easy to tell this is very clever music, but it's almost as if the band didn't really care in the studio. Yes, vocalist Mike Hatchett's harrowing screams are delivered with ferocity, but there's just no spark.
Indeed, Demonbreed's album would come to life in a live setting. Songs such as "Blood Will Fall", "Terror" and "Lifewalk" all sound mediocre on CD, but there's definite potential to be blown away in a tightly packed croud somewhere.
Demonbreed have all the answers to put on an excellent live show, and the innovation to create interesting music. Hopefully their next album will reflect some of the obvious energy they have, and showcase it properly. "Closer To God" isn't a bad album, but there's just so much more.