Among Thieves' latest EP is not so much an evolution or reinvention as it is a continuation from where their last demo left off. The new material included finds the group delving more and more into hooky rhythmic melody and stiff crunchy grooves that show off growth and increased cognition, while also implementing a broader usage of dynamics, allowing them to slow things down to a crawl and pick them back up, only to break them all down again. As such, the group's increased musical depth seems to sound a lot like an agitated cross between Faith No More, Sevendust and Life Of Agony, combining charmingly melodic vocals with concise driving riffs to create songs that lunge straight for the listeners ear.

A bit more varied this time out, band frontman Rob draws similarities to Mike Patton tonally, yet his vocal work is more focused, unleashing huge hooks and emotive buildups that are for the most part consistently melodic, yet retain a sense of urgency which in turn makes up for the lack of screams and other such eruptions. The guitar work on the other hand is a bit scaled down in turn and lays out a wealth of crunchy aggro riffs that belt the songs forth, while also carving out scratchy mutes and some rather delicate sounding plucks and strums. The bass playing is a bit more aggressive however and seals up the rear with a supportive full bodied lowend, complete with a fairly low tuning which creates a stiff dynamic contrast between its plowing grooves and the higher pitched guitar work as the songs progress. Meanwhile, the percussion is hit hard and carefully, nailing out cleverly mixed blasts of dulled snare variations and thick kick drum thuds.

Musically this latest demo is still on par with the songs they've created in the past and though it doesn't provide any drastic change, it is still quite enjoyable all the way through. It serves as a good indication of where the band are headed and goes to show that they now have a broader range than that which they possessed on their last outing, proving that they are able to write songs that don't just focus on the jugular and are more than able to take the time to shine during slower tempos and paces. The vocals are still littered with warm infectious choruses and the guitar riffs are still as pugnacious and driving as ever, but with the latest forays into more open ended song structures, the band sound a lot more spacious and versatile in the long run. Admittedly though, there is still a noticeably thin feel to the music overall and though it is quite possibly due to the production of the demo, it does make the songs feel a bit bare and disjointed when they could be easily be much more unified musical assaults. The song writing is also a bit no frills at times and seems to lack a certain sense of intricacy, focusing more upon bare bones solid song writing than creative flourishes and distinct sonic progressions. Regardless, the fact remains that Among Thieves are onto a sound that will undoubtedly take them far; Sure it may not yet be completely developed yet, but it is already talented and impressive enough to perk up the ears of most. In fact, the only real pitfall of this demo is that it contains a total of 2 new songs, making it feel like a showcase for the new material and little else, but then again that's usually the whole purpose of a independent offerings anyway.