6gig are perhaps Maine's best kept secret, a band who despite their musically remote location, ooze the edgy emotional competence and potential of post NY hardcore giants like Quicksand and Helmet, channeling such heralded influences into moody slabs of driving hard rock.

A precursor to the bands upcoming new album "Mind Over Mind", "broadcast. Trans:MISSION.red" is a collection of new tracks from the aforementioned effort along with a few b-sides and a demo version of an older track and while such compilations usually turn out to be a throw away release for the band to sell while on the road, this EP actually manages to somewhat serve as a bridge between new and old. The album cuts, "Proud" and "Free", effortlessly display the evolution that has taken place over the past two years and benefit highly from the greater production values that were implemented this time out, with producer Matt Wallace (Faith No More, The Replacements) bringing songs of a much more intricate and grandiose scale out of the band.

While such descriptive terms are often frightening for a bands fans as they almost always thinly veil an attempt for a commercial direction, the same core sound that made "Tincan Experiment" such a refreshing listen is still thankfully locked in place here. The only real difference is this time out is that rather than the rough around the edges nature it emerged in before, it now sees the band elevating into some epic buildups and breakdowns, suggesting a stronger cohesion which seems almost unintentional as the songs are no less honest or authentic. To create such a paradox in this day and age is no easy feat but then again, neither is taking a Maine based band on a national level, so this quartet are obviously doing something right. Sure there's still a few bumps in the road left to pave out, but none that really jar the listeners attention and while a bit more new material would have been a nice touch to give this release a bit more lasting value, this transmission still serves as a good indication that bigger and better things are yet to come when "Mind Over Mind" sees its eventual release.