In its original heyday, the Combat Records roster was instrumental in helping launch many of metals most revered artists, including the likes of Megadeth, Death, Exodus and many more. However, the grunge and alternative of the 90's took their toll on everyone and Combat was eventually laid to rest, that is until now. Resurrected by new blood, the label is now looking to establish another defining era and Texas' At All Cost are at the frontlines.

Expectedly, this is not the thrash nor death metal the aforementioned label once helped to pioneer. With modern times comes modern music and At All Cost are just that. A gritty blend of metalcore with many an emotive part, there are the death metal-styled screams, the earnest clean sung parts and enough breakdowns and galloping metal riffs to ensure mosh pit productivity levels meet their quota. But while the foundation of the bands approach may not vary much from any other metalcore band influenced by the Swedes, the flourishes and extra touches they have developed here certainly are.

Eccentric use of vocoder, poppy melodies and tons of synthesizer driven programming take the band on a very diverse course from that of their peers. Despite the disparity between such musical elements though, the song progressions rarely seem to suffer as they make these electronically-aided tangents almost feel organic. There's even some rather charming stark instrumentals and lush color spread around as well. A curveball to be sure, "It's Time To Decide" will catch many off guard and one can't help but to give respect to a group actually trying to do something different.

That said, for all the adversity and contrast displayed, the bands metallic aspects, while well done, are nowhere near as ground breaking as their other creative characteristics. In turn, the inventiveness exhibited winds up being a bit lopsided in the long run. With numerous guests, various instruments and a lot of ingenuity there is still a lot of fresh content here - but there is also sadly as much mildly stale material as well. A hallmark genre defining release? Not quite, but an admirable start for a new age in any case.