Illinois has spawned its fair share of bands lately, including the likes of Disturbed, No One, From Zero, Five Pointe O and many more, and it looks as though next the act to follow the path out is Stripping The Pistol, a band which now features former Soulfly drummer Joe Nunez within its ranks. With a sound that for the most part feels like a cross somewhere between "Chaos A.D." era Sepultura and self-titled Alice In Chains, the band are also able to progress over into more friendly radio rock territory akin to perhaps to Saliva. Combining pugnacious, driving rhythms with the requisite heaviness and modern metal crunch, the band top it all off with a certain sense of hooky rock radio friendliness, writing songs that are able to invoke a cathartic release while also staying stuck in the listeners head.

The vocal duties for the group are divided between frontman Kyriakos Tsiolis and guitarist Kevin Cherello, allowing Layne Staley meets Ozzy Osbourne reminiscent melodies to clash with aggressive guttural barks, which makes for a dynamic vocal performance that is united by a thick catchy choruses in the end. The guitar work is quite treble heavy, using distorted lunges that can bring to mind "Blind" era Corrosion Of Conformity crossed with the bottomed out modern metal feel of recent Sepultura, complete with a few shredding solo's. While the bass performance captured is hungry and thick, threading through the guitar work and vibrant drumming to add a bumpy ribbed like rhythmic strength, which when coupled with the articulate and at times even slightly tribal tinged percussion in place, comprise a fiercely able rhythm section.

The bands strong vocal performance is what instantly makes them stand out and the fact that they cross both traditional and contemporary metal elements helps to set them further apart from the pack. The choruses are warm and hard to resist, while the verses retain enough of an aggressive undercurrent to keep most metal fans happy. The music is also crushingly heavy when necessary and shows its roots with pride, sounding like a near perfect middle ground of technical ability and bluntly expressed musical intensity, catering to fans of both sides of the spectrum. Admittedly though, even with the songs being quite cohesive and flush with a tireless charge of momentum, they do seem to still feel a bit loose and underdeveloped at times, but when considering this is the bands first demo, such cons can generally be forgiven. All in all, Stripping The Pistol are a contemporary heavy metal band with a wide array of influences both old and new and it shows in the quality of their craft. Vigorous and spacious with a commercial sensibility, it shouldn't take long for them to locate a major label home and continue the successful lineage their home state has established as of late.