For their Solid State debut Louisiana natives As Cities Burn have turned in an impassioned array of aggressive post-hardcore based songs that aren't afraid to add in some crushing metal overtones or dreamy space rock interludes whenever possible. In turn, the bands energy is near feverish as they whimsically follow their hearts through material rife with breakneck part changes and dense layering.

It's not hard to draw comparisons to bands like At The Drive-In, and perhaps even Thursday, when listening to As Cities Burn, as the impulsively thick musicianship is ultimately quite angular and direct. Grating guitars unfurl with dizzying structuring as chunky riffs flare up throughout the more destructive parts. Teetering vocals that alternate between psychotic screams and unhinged emotion are also along for the ride, as is a kinetically charged rhythm section.

A melodramatic roller coaster to be sure, the band can be floating through melancholic atmosphere with clean sullen vocals at one moment and chugging out alarmingly loose borderline-metalcore riffage the next. However, while the overall flexible approach and erratic pacing of the album do keep the listener intrigued, that's not to say that everything works out in the groups favor. Many of the songs on hand can feel cluttered and unfocused, lacking that key solid connection with the listener to fully reel them in.

As such, there are moments of brilliance and many more of swirling dissonance that sound like complexity was the intended goal, rather than consistency. With this being the case there is still a lot here to appreciate as it is rather artistic in nature. But while colorful, its frenetic schizophrenia is neither memorable nor coherent enough to garner the unconditional parental love its title would suggest.