Sadly Below The Line
Laid back hardcore? Chilled metalcore? It's really not easy to describe exactly what Below the Line are doing in their new release 'Ode To St. Chris' - it approaches grunge, it approaches metal and it unfortunately approaches hardcore but overall leaves a rather dissatisfying taste in your mouth.
Below The Line's musical focus is on slow, almost laid back rock-metal stylings with mellow plaintive vocals over the top... with that rather annoying twang you get when singers try to sound American, or just have a bad American accent. Occasionally a rather odd sounding hardcore or metalcore grunt comes in over the top rather unexpectedly, like a bad letter from the Doctor, and just like this letter these screams aren't really welcome. The guitar riffs are quite simple and mid-tempo, turning into a more doomy sounding fuzz of wails during some of the choruses, and despite the rather lacklustre sound of it in description it actually works quite well on most of the tracks. The production of the album is pretty solid, nothing out of place and nothing too intrusive, in fact the balance of the sounds is pretty much spot-on for the style; the musical instruments intertwine and react with each other in a very ear-pleasing way. Another problem this album had was its length, at thirty minutes it is too long to be an EP but too short to be a satisfying album and just floats in an unsatisfying netherworld.
Overall, this wasn't too exciting a release. This is the sort of thing which if released in demo form might make some keen eyed producer think "Aha! There is potential here!", but unfortunately it is only potential that is on offer in 'Ode to St. Chris'. Ditch the screamer, focus on the laid-back fuzzy guitars and perhaps write a few more tracks to make the album more "complete" and we might just have a winner on our hands.