Credit: WMK Photography

There is quite a bit of controversy behind the genre Hardcore. At least, in my opinion there is. There are a lot of bands who LISTEN to Hardcore, but play different music; yet they label themselves as such. Genres aren’t a defining factor of a bands talent or presence, but the wrong terminology can sometimes result in a complete turn off or even resentment. What does this have to do with Whitby band Head Check? Out of most of the bands in Durham region, they are the purest form of TRUE Hardcore one can find.

Consisting of established characters in the music scene, and even dudes who just love music in general, Head Check is a breath of fresh air musically, breaking away from the polluted sea of sub-genres. They have just released their first EP, and it’s something you should really check out, Hardcore fan or not.

You can check these dudes out here;

http://www.facebook.com/HeadCheck

I’ve been slacking hard lately, and thought it was time to pick up the pace a bit. I’ve been meaning to do this review for quite some time now, and now is the time. Lucy Tooth is a 5 song EP by the acoustic act Waking Aspen, a band we have previously featured on this site, and held with high praise. It only gets better with this release, trust me.

Tracklist
01. Knick Knack
02. Working Together
03. Lend Myself
04. Sugar Daddy
05. Walk With Me

There are a few things worth noting right off the bat; First, the quality on Lucy Tooth far surpasses that of the self titled EP we reviewed earlier this year. This gives such a better view of the rich textures on melodies on this EP. Secondly, this is a much more “mature” incarnation of Waking Aspen than the one present on the self titled, and it only adds to their already established image as a thriving acoustic/folk act.

I’ve always felt that this band has been severely underrated. I’m not exactly sure of their popularity, but I know for sure they are not exactly well known around these parts. And that is an incredible shame. Either the self titled or Lucy Tooth is a great introduction to the band, but I feel like i’m getting alittle ahead of myself here. Onto the actual review.

Lucy Tooth is not an entirely complex record, but that is one of its strongest suites. By complexity i’m not talking about the technical aspects of the music itself, but the instruments present, the layering, etc. It’s not too much, it’s not an overload of sounds that attack from all angles. It is bliss in musical form.

The strongest track on this record in my eyes is easily Working Together. Nothing personifies this band better than this song I believe. The bliss I mentioned before? Yeah, this is a pretty good example of that. If you think things go on some kind of downward spiral after this track than you are dead wrong. Lend Myself comes at an incredibly close second place.

Waking Aspen, like I said before, is probably one of the most under-appreciated bands I have ever known, and it’s your duty as a lover of music to listen to this band.

I got a chance to ask Michael Burton [Mercenaries] a few questions about his band, past tour, and whats in store for the Georgetown Metalcore outfit. Take a look!

TRBP: Mercenaries just did a tour with other local bands Terror Spells and Heartless. How was the tour?
MB: The tour was a lot of fun! It really wasn’t too much of an intense tour as I think we were only on the road for like a week or so. We circled around Ontario and met a bunch of new people. It was the first time we’ve really missioned to Northern Ontario and I think next time we want to go to the east coast and see what’s over in those parts. Terror Spells and Heartless are both really great bands, and all of them as people are really amazing. If anyone is looking for two great live bands you should really spend the ten bucks and go out and see them live. I had some serious problems getting to sleep on that mini-tour, so my recollection of all the events are really, really fuzzy. I drank too much, and popped my knee out in North Bay. That wasn’t fun. However I had a bunch of sweet straight edge dudes taking care of me the entire trip.

TRBP: This past year you guys have really taken off, how long has Mercenaries been in the works?
MB: Well thanks! We’ve been a band for a little over a year. I’m pretty sure we had our one year anniversary this past March. It’s been really wicked so far, and I’m really happy that we’ve been able to play so many shows and do all the things we’ve been able to do. I guess we’ve “taken off” but things have been going smoothly considering we haven’t been a band for that long. We’ve all known each other long before we’re a band. I was in my first band with shepp when I was 16, and have known him since the 2nd grade. I’ve known Jay our drummer since elementary school, and I met Kris while going to local shows in Georgetown while I was in high school.

We’re friends before we’re a band, and I think that’s really important. I know some bands that don’t jam or hang out together as people, and just pull their shit together right before they tour or record. We’re a bit different in the fact that we’ll all go out for wings together or just sit around and watch tv as friends. We’re friend you know? We’re normal dudes that watch spiderman cartoons and talk about awesome things like hockey and movies.

We haven’t had any member changes and it’s been well over a year, so for the mixture of people, I think we got it down. We all get really pissed off at each other, but we tend to let it all slide and forgive each other. We’re a family, and even family members can yell at each other without breaking up, right?

TRBP: Definitely one of the most recognizable sounds in the GTA, what inspired you guys to create such a unique sound for yourselves?
MB: Well we really appreciate that compliment! We really didn’t have a clear direction of where we wanted our sound to go until we released Darkman and Hannibal, in my own opinion. Our Ep that we never pressed called “Don’t Worry About It” was incredibly rushed and written in like two weeks. Then as we wrote we kind of figured out what we wanted our music to sound like. We enjoy a lot of different music. Not just metal, not just hardcore. I can’t speak for the rest of the band, but I personally listen to a lot of pop music and top 40 dance and electronic. That’s sort of the kick I’m on right now. Grab somebody sexy, tell em hey? Right?

For me – I am all about the live show. When we write I contribute the odd idea here or there, but it’s really the rest of the band writing the instrumentals. I’m inspired by bands that just throw out all the rules of a live show. Bands that play on the floor, bands that have throngs of kids losing their minds singing along and bands that go crazy when they play live. I love that stuff so much. Off the top of my head I really think of the Chariot as the band that has inspired me, but there are many others.

As for the rest of the band they’ve probably been inspired by bands like Tony Danza Tap Dance Extravaganza, Norris, and a whole ton of random metal, rock, hardcore and emo bands. Shepp has a pretty unique guitar tone, and I find his fast fingers really contributes to the overall sound of the band. Jay has really stepped up and done some amazing work on the ol’ drums, and Kris has been equally awesome slappin’ da bass. We all have our own tastes in music, and our own personal influences.

But the Dillinger Escape Plan has been coming up a lot lately as something we can all really enjoy listening to as well.
Dillinger is a good mix of amazing musicianship and crazy live performances. I could go on, but there are just so many bands and performers that have influenced us.

TRBP: We had a chance to review your EP, do you guys have anything new in the works?
MB: We sure do. I’ve been shitting myself lately because we’ve been writing so much. We go into the studio at the end of August to record our first full length record. We’re actually going to press this record, and it will be the first piece of music from us that you can hold in your hands, and slide into your music collection. It’s going to be 11 songs, and much different than that first EP we recorded a while back.

The new material that we’ve been writing is incredibly fast, and just plain dirty. It’s supposed to be wicked fast, and incredibly heavy. I’m really focusing on writing songs that have meaning, because if you read into the lyrics of our first EP, well, they are kind of terrible. These songs will be better, more angry and much more crisp. In my opinion, I want the record to just induce pure chaos at shows. I want massive pile ups and crazy sing a longs. I want Kris to be able to stage dive off of monitors onto a mass of stoked kids, and I want kids tackling shepp and doing metal fingers because they are so stoked.

We want a record that we are proud to play, and everyone really enjoys. That’s about it!

TRBP: What does the future hold for Mercenaries?
MB: Well who knows. We put on the brakes for the summer since we set out the goal to release our first full length record. We want to get that record out of the way, and never ever write ever again.

Ok, well maybe that’s a stretch. I want to be able to hand someone a full length record, a physical copy of music, and let them interpret the music on their own. I also want to get back to playing lots of shows, and supporting bigger bands on their adventures. A record deal would be really cool from Distort, and a tour supporting some bands that we really like would also be amazing.

But yeah, we have no idea where we are going, but we’re just going to keep going.

Cheers!

TRBP: You guys have recently lost a drummer, how has your search been going?
JT: We found a drummer in Uxbridge recently so the search hasn’t been difficult at all. His name is Mitch and he’s been friends with us for a while. We’re excited to see what he can bring to our sound with the new material which is already in the works

TRBP: What happened between Carmine and Quinn exactly?
JT: Quinn found that he lost motivation with Carmine, and needed to focus on more life goals with himself. With life being as crazy as it can be, it’s needed to step up and do what has to be done; in carmine we strongly believe in that. We all love and respect Quinn and wish him the best in whatever comes in his life

TRBP: You guys have been recording at Newcomb studios correct? How has it been going?
JT: Newcomb Studios has been incredible from day 1. Everyone there is exceptionally good at what they do, and they’re making this one of the best experiences we’ve ever had as a band. A couple more sessions and the EP will be finished! We love going to studio and can’t wait to go back

TRBP: Alot of the local talent was able to play the All Stars tour, was Carmine asked? How did you feel about the amount of Durham bands getting on a massive show like that?
JT: Unfortunately, Carmine wasn’t asked to play the All Stars tour but we were more then stoked that some Durham bands got on the bill, like Heartless, This is Death Valley, and Sleep When You’re Dead. They all played incredible! I love watching locals bands play, and believe that there should be locals on every tour that comes through.

TRBP: Any shows lined up for you guys?
JT: Right now we don’t have any shows lined up, as we are finishing in the studio and focusing on teaching our new drummer everything, plus writing some new material. We will be aching for shows after so asap we’ll be playing again! Also theres a tour in the works for the fall so we’re looking forward to that as well

TRBP: Any last words?
JT: I’m excited to release our new EP, because its a step up from our last EP Trophies which was released last year. We tried different things and matured in our sound as a band and you’ll for sure hear it on the EP. Keep posted to our facebook page for updates!

It has been quite some time since i’ve done this portion of the site, but hey, i’m feeling motivated these days! And I have seen quite a few amazing bands via touring and out of town shows. The band I am shoving down your throat this month is a Metalcore band from Kitchener, Ontario; Exalt.

Rarely do I see a band perform with such ferocity as this one. Everything about Exalt gets into your face whether you like it or not. The live act is almost reminescent of such acts as Converge or even The Dillinger Escape Plan, albeit not as violent, but just as memorable. The music itself tries its hardest to break through its own confines into complete chaos, but manages to maintain its cool and calm composure. The vocals are what really top things off.

You can catch Exalt at random shows around the GTA, and as far as I know they will be touring with Constraints in August, so make sure you make it out to one of the dates. You can check out Exalt at the following;

Facebook
Myspace

Continent is a deathcore band from Niagara Falls, Ontario. I have seen this band perform live, and have even played with them on a few occasions [which is where I picked up this CD, aswell as some very used gym shorts for $2] so I know one thing is for sure; These guys are fucking heavy. The composition of heavy music slightly differs in any region you travel, and in this case, Continent as well as their EP Global Extinction offer a very unique tinge of almost a Lamb of God kind of heavy metal within their down tuned devastation. I think thats a good enough intro…lets start the review!

Tracklist
01. Hour of Depravity
02. Curse My Name
03. Wake Up
04. Interlude
05. Sovereignty
06. Purging of Devine
07. Blood Harvest

Right off the bat I want to say that the quality of this CD is probably the best I have reviewed for TRBP in quite some time, and to make things even more awesome, its all done by the band in their home studio. I like that these guys cut right to the chase with Hour of Depravity, no intro, no nothin’. This song only confirms my above comments about Continent and the content of their music. This song is fairly straightforward though, but what makes it good is its composition, and the rhythm is incredibly catchy. The guitar tone is also very memorable, and I know that sounds strange considering many if not all bands are going for the djenty-5150-whatthehelldidyoustartvanhalen sound, but the crunchiness and general heaviness in these songs is something you won’t soon forget.

One thing that irked me abit about Global Extinction was the sequencing in some parts of the CD. The transition between Curse My Name and Wake Up felt alittle TOO abrupt. Almost as if the silence didn’t pave a clear enough path for the intro to Wake Up, which is quite sudden to say the least. I feel as if that period of silence could have been utilized for another song. Wake Up as a song is quite the diddy, but compared to alot of the other material on Global Extinction, it lacks that certain charm. I really appreciate the dominance of Death Metal over “core” in Continent’s sound, which is something alot of Deathcore bands severely overlook. It’s not even to a degree where the Death Metal influence takes complete control either, its definitely the dominant sound, but there is a very even amount.

The Interlude track I enjoyed quite a bit. It also boasts one of the best breakdowns on this CD, and that I have heard in general. I appreciate a band that has a sense of humor, and definitely having the classical piano interrupted by Continents ear drum crushing guitar tone is something too good to pass up.

Global Extinction ends with the track Blood Harvest, which was definitely the best outro choice for this CD. I can’t exactly say it offers anything new in terms of sound, but clearly Continent is not a band that focuses on breaking down musical boundaries. As far as i’m concerned, these guys just want to write and play heavy ass music, and I gotta say i’m completely cool with that. The reason for this is because they know how to write these songs effectively, and are simply not just regurgitating other bands breakdowns and riffs. I look forward to what Continent has to offer in the near future.

Without getting too nit picky, Longshot is a Hardcore band from Ajax, Ontario. They are well known for their powerful live shows, epic punk jumps and a very unique vocal style [that most either hate or love]. When I saw Longshot for the first time, I was not a fan whatsoever. Nothing about the band appealed to me in the slightest. However, over time I have seen this band evolve into the creature that is present on this EP, which is unrelenting and full of heart.

Tracklisting
01. The Distant
02. The Everlasting
03. Tough Luck ft. Kent from The Vegas Wake Up
04. Monolith ft. Brendan from Counterparts

Things start off with the title track, The Distant, which is a very brief intro to this little journey. Mostly just a build up if anything, one thing I was not a fan of was the transition between this song and the first actual track. It didn’t really fit that well in my opinion, but with that being said, it is one of the only things I dislike about this EP.

The Everlasting comes on strong and takes no prisoners. A very traditional hardcore feel in this one. Longshot demonstrates their creative ability while paying homage to their hardcore roots. There are a lot of improvements here to note, the most evident one being Kurt’s vocals.

One of the very common gripes about Longshot’s vocals is that it tends to be very love or hate. Kurt has managed to integrate a more traditional and ear friendly style into his already classic Longshot voice. The improvement is VERY apparent, and anyone listening to The Distant will know what i’m talking about. Kudos Kurt, you have managed to turn said hate into love.

The next track features guest vocals from Kent, the vocalist of The Vegas Wake Up. His parts in Tough Luck are welcomed with open arms, but perhaps having 2 out of 3 tracks featuring guest vocals is a little excessive. It’s always awesome to see local bands working together and adding their own signature touches, but I think this would have been a little more welcomed if the EP was longer. It just takes the attention away from the band. Tough Luck is a great follow up to the previous track, and really shows a much more mature side  of Longshot that I think we have all been waiting for.

The final track, Monolith features Brendan from Counterparts, another somewhat local band that has made great strides in the past year or so. Monolith is a phenomenal track. The only thing that irks me about it is the drumming just around the 1:50 mark, it sounds alittle bit off to me. It’s nice to hear Brendan’s voice throughout the majority of the song, rather than a smaller part like Kent’s guest vocals in Tough Luck. The Longshot/Counterparts combo is very nice. All in all, The Distant has really restored my faith in this local Hardcore act, and the change in style and substance is a welcomed one.

I’m quite excited to review something on the softer side, as the last well….ALOT of reviews have been Metal or Hardcore related. Freedom Thirty Five is a four piece pop punk band from Pickering, Ontario. I can’t admit to being the biggest fan of pop punk, but I do enjoy my fair share of it. I know what makes a GOOD pop punk song, I know whats important to listen for, and I know the difference between a good song and a bad one. So far for Freedom Thirty Five, its up in the air.

Tracklisting
01. It All Happened in the Trailer Park
02. Under the City
03. Tonight it’s me

When I first began listening through The Good Things, I instantly knew what I liked and didn’t. For one, I am not a fan of the vocals of this band. I will say that they are PERFORMED well, but the vocal tone is not to my liking whatsoever, and thats not exactly something that can be changed or improved upon really, so i’m not going to hold it against these guys. In my honest opinion though, I would say that the vocals don’t really suit the music as well as it should. In any band the vocals should really stand out, almost as importantly as the music itself, and that is really missing here. Another thing i have noticed is that the songs don’t really seem to be all that memorable or “catchy” if you will. In order for a song to be effective it is crucial that it be memorable. There is a really noticeable repetition in the first track, It All Happened in the Trailer Park which is a really huge turn off unfortunately. There is so much untapped potential in this song for other riffs and catchier parts, but they are substituted for repetition.

Under the City doesn’t really show any improvement unfortunately, instead tries a little TOO hard to be catchy. This particular track is easily my least favorite on the entire “EP”. I noticed that the vocals do in fact stand out in this track, but not in a particularly good way. It sounds incredibly forced to me, as if they are trying to make something fit in a slot that is too small. There is nothing memorable about this song, or anything positive worth noting.

Things DO pick up though with Tonight it’s me. The riff work is much better this time around and this one is surprisingly catchy, especially in comparison to the 2 previous tracks which were very disappointing in numerous ways. F35 should utilize the effective elements that compose this track to improve their overall sound, something I personally believe needs some work.

The band that has single-handedly made it gnarly to be from Oshawa; Sleep When You’re Dead is a what can only be described as Grimy, Southern, Noisy Hardcore band from said city. I have praised them throughout this very websites creation, and I have seen them perform numerous times throughout the past year. These guys came from opening up shows at The Top Shelf to opening for Dead and Divine, Protest the Hero, and even headlining their own. Needless to say, Sleep When You’re Dead will not be sleeping any time soon.

This EP has been in the works for quite some time now. Unlike most of the recordings I review which are done at Newcomb Studio’s [love those dudes], this one was recorded out in Hamilton, and the quality speaks for itself. I am very excited and honored to have the opportunity to review this CD, which I have been anticipating for a long time now.

Tracklisting;
01. Muskoka Dinner Jacket
02. Hooker Spit
03. Directions
04. Blood Red Stiletto’s
05. Three Lights Madoc
06. No More Talk
07. Prepare to be Amazed

One thing I LOVE about this EP, as subtle as it is, are the song titles. Rarely I review a band where I am actually drawn in immediately by the song titles so this is a treat. There is just something very unique and interesting about them. I haven’t even talked about the songs themselves yet and i’m already finding something I love about this review; I think we know what direction this is going to go!

Muskoka Dinner Jacket is a short one. This song is as intro-y as you can get, but it still finds a way to creep into your ears and get your blood flowing. There isn’t much else to say here, but as far as intro’s go, this has to be one of my favorites thus-far.

Moving right on to the first full track of Directions, Hooker Spit. As far as I know, most of these songs have been played a fair bit throughout SWYD’s inception, and this is definitely one of them. I love everything about it; The bass driven intro, the rhythmic hypnosis of the guitar, the noise inspired bridges and the unbelievably catchy 2 steps. Even the breakdown in this song is amazing, it incorporates the stand out elements of the whole song and mix it into one dirty motherfucking section. I am very impressed so far, and this is only the second song.

Directions, the namesake of the EP is our next track. It starts off in an almost ambient way, which quickly switches to very powerful melody. One thing that really stands out for SWYD is that they really know how to write songs. The structure, the different genres used, even tiny things like song titles; These boys know what they are doing, there is no mistaking this. This song is among one of my favorites on the EP, with a brilliant mix of gorgeous melodies, crushing lows, and the sometimes spine tingling voice of vocalist Alex Leech.

Things take a lighter note with the next track; Blood Red Stilettos! This is easily the most “southern” sounding song on Directions. This song is a really nice jumping point also for any new listeners, it has a well rounded sound that can easily appeal to anyone listening. In an almost bi-polar change, Blood Red Stiletto’s goes from a hard to the teeth southern tune to a completely grim and ruthless sounding deathcore beast. You have to admire the ability to play these two sounds together in such a sudden way, not to mention how well executed it is. Lately I seem to be blessed with the more low end CD’s, because the bass on this one is incredibly present. It meshes REALLY well with songs, and weaves in and out effortlessly. So far Directions has been one of the most impressive local recording efforts I have ever reviewed, but I knew SWYD would not disappoint me with their long awaited CD, and it won’t disappoint you either.

Three Lights Madoc is easily my favorite track on the whole damn CD. It slays the entire way through, and absolutely does NOT stop. One thing I have really noticed, and especially in this song, is the clarity of Alex’s vocals. This is something that is really lacking in bands, and I know alot of people will agree that its quite annoying when you have absolutely no idea what the vocalist is saying. This is not even close to a problem with SWYD. Alex is able to enunciate himself incredibly well, and you’re never really wondering what it is he’s actually singing, or rather, yelling about. Taking some emphasis away from the vocals, i’d like to point out how well each instrument stands out on its own. Usually we fall into the tired habit of having each instrument follow the kick drum, or SOMETHING. Its definitely worth noting that this isn’t usually the case in SWYD. These guys have made it so each instrument has its own time in the spotlight, as subtle as it may be, you can really hear EVERYTHING very clearly instead of having one or two things lost in the mixing process.

As I listen to this CD, I start to notice that despite the fact that most of these songs were probably written at different times, they all still manage to flow together incredibly well. Usually its easy to point out when a band writes something completely new for a CD, on a CD full of older songs, but not with these dudes. It becomes quite difficult actually, and even harder for anyone new to them. No More Talk, the next song is what really made me notice this. Another one of the very Southern/Blusey/Deathcore kind of tracks, that almost has a Kid Stallion feel to it, another superb band that manages to mesh genres very well together. No More Talk is just one of those kinds of songs that you simply WON’T skip, at least, I don’t see how anyone could. It never slows down, and it never tires; It keeps kicking you in the ass all the way to the proctologist’s office.

Drawing to an end, we have SWYD’s trump card and set closer; Prepare to be Amazed. The very slogan of the fare city of Oshawa, Ontario. I’m glad these guys chose this as the final song on Directions, because it is a PERFECT outro to this amazing CD. This one has everything that makes SWYD a great band; The blusey scales, the southern charm, the almost ambient dissonance and of course, the KTO-esque griminess. I LOVE the clean vocals too. I’m proud to know that there is such a varied and well rounded band out of my hometown, that has managed to make great strides in the local music scene despite the fact they are completely out of the norm. I think thats what also makes it so great, is the fact that these guys aren’t playing generic music, or music for the wrong reason at that. You can HEAR in this record that they wrote everything from the heart, and they love playing it, there are no bad intentions here.

Tracklisting
01. Plagues
02. As Harlots Die
03. No Respect
04. Off With Her Head
05. Between the Trenches
06. We Are The Destroyer

WATD starts off with easily one of the strongest tracks on this EP; Plagues. There is a very noticeable presence of musicianship and growth in this song. It starts off strong, and stays consistent throughout. The spoken word parts via Tyler and Matt are starting to almost sound signature, as much as their vocals can sometimes sound strangely similar or even conflicting, they still manage to put on a strong performance and hold their own. One thing I have criticized TIDV in the past for is their use of breakdowns, and in this track its very clear that they have at least learned to integrate them better into their sound, rather than create a sound based around them.

Next up is an oldie for all those die hards out there! The old As Harlots Die has been up on the TIDV MySpace for almost a year I think by now, and during my discovery of these guys, I have always felt that this was one of their strongest songs. The new and improved As Harlots Die does not disappoint, especially with the added touch of Matt Dale’s vocals. The intro to this song is amazing, and one I have always been a fan of. One thing I am not a fan of is the guitar tone. It doesn’t de-value the songs as much, but it’s still a shame a better guitar tone wasn’t used. That was one of my biggest gripes with this EP, and it irks me because everything else sounds really professional and well recorded. Other than that, this song is a no brainer. Its grimy, heavy and incredibly brutal. Kudos to TIDV for making a classic even greater.

No Respect was the first song these guys released off of WATD, and a smart choice at that. If you want to listen to it you can check out a video that was made for it, its been posted everywhere and i’ll leave the link at the end of the review. Definitely one of the better written songs, without a doubt, the only thing that takes it down a notch is the guitar tone yet again. I’ve heard this song live, and Conor’s sweeping part in the intro always sounds great. In this song, it doesn’t shine through as much as it should have, and I blame the guitar tone completely on that. The bass, like in Plagues, is also really present which is a nice treat. The sound clip of Matt arguing with a shop clerk at the end is also priceless, a perfect ending to this track.

The soul crushing br00-tal continues with Off With Her Head, another oldie. This song was also up on the bands MySpace for quite some time along with As Harlots Die. Anyone noticing a common theme here yet? This song has an almost hypnotic rhythm to it that I just think is plum dandy. Very good use of groove in this one, and it flows really nicely into the songs more generic parts, making them stand out in a much better way. It’s probably a good time to mention the AMAZING vocal stamina of Matt and Tyler. These two dudes definitely know what they’re doing in terms of stamina, and although there are some points where i’m not the biggest fan of their tone, I will give them credit for the fact that there are a wide variety of tones present on this CD. It really keeps things interesting as opposed to hearing the exact same style of vocals throughout an entire song.

Between the Trenches continues things nicely as a more transitional piece. All of the songs stand out in their own way, which is one of the things that makes this a good EP, but this song I found was more of a mish mash of the stand out portions of the other tracks. I did enjoy the TIDV style 2-step part around 2:16, it did seem a tad out-of-place, but it managed to work fairly well within the song.

This is where WATD REALLY shines, the final song and namesake of the EP; We Are The Destroyer. This is easily the most mature sounding track off of the entire EP, and my absolute favorite. As I put this song on, it was hard to picture that this was written by the same guys I blasted back in April on this very website. Any distaste I had back then is easily made up for with this song. The stand alone vocal intro to this song is bone chilling, and it remains consistently crushing until the very last note is played. It encompasses many of the things that made this EP good in one single track, while still showing us that TIDV still has alot of tricks up their sleeve in terms of creativity and writing. This band has come a LONG way since I first knew of them, and they have improved and matured into a quite the force to be reckoned with. I am looking forward to see what This is Death Valley has in store next for us.