20 Dead Flower Children's latest demo contains the previously released track "Greet The Machine" along with a handful of new songs which were recorded in a garage as the title alludes to. The music contained here once again shows off an evolution in the band and focused songwriting as they tear through the tracks with greater melodic vision than their past efforts along with a raw sound that makes even the electronic elements sound violent. After a string of releases, the group has managed to mark its own imprint on the face of heavy music, but the possible closest comparisons would most likely be acts like Ultraspank and Professional Murder Music as rugged grooves are punctured with verbal melody and entrancing electronica. Vocally the album is inherently more flowing as band frontman, D-Hauz somewhat finds himself and pushes the softer side of his voice to new limits before bashing it with the grace of a spiked bat with vocal chord tearing screams and aggravated bursts of intelligently written lyrics filled with progressive ideas and wit. Guitars also plow new trenches of sonic experimentation as they saunter through winding riffs and ambient notes that ring out with a mature grace. But that still doesn't mean they can't shed this softer feel as they kick over into callused blasts that feature a moderate tuning and chunky distortion to punch their contributions repeatedly through the speakers with chugging repetition and an impressive amount of build up. Bass implements distortion as slightly percussive hits thud out with a sludgy tuning, locking onto the guitars lead like a heat seeking missile chasing its prey. Drums step into environmental beats that divide their time evenly between a raw almost futuristic flurry of rolls and no frills explosions of percussive energy which are skewered by the dull snare. Electronic elements are once again integrated into the bands creations this time around, but they are becoming less and less obtrusive as the bands attention shifts more to their instrumental ingredients to complete the bulk of their tasks. The band has taken a large step away from anything that sounds industrial and their sparse placement of loops and programming flourishes in the sharply pointed tracks that emerge as a result. Their maturity and talent are steadily increasing and their songs are benefiting from the developments in astonishing leaps of quality and depth, but they could still use a bit of tightening up before they reach their full potential. For what its worth though this demo proves that this band is headed for bigger and better things and as the new material begins to take shape and grow, the music will no doubt be irresistible to herds of kids waiting to eat up something innovative and heavy. 20 Dead Flower Children's name is filled with irony, as the constant development of maturity and refined songcrafting contrasts to the term "children" while rather than stay stagnant and dead, their creations blossom and flower as they strive for new heights, expect this band to make it to the majors in due time, as they unquestionably have what it takes to establish themselves for a long ride.
(4 / 5)