Bender take hard rock sensibility, combine it with grunge reminiscent vocals and add a dash of industrial aggression on this, their TVT debut release. Melodic yet rough words lead the songs through the motions while tepid guitar work and tight drums follow. Similar to most hard rock bands out there the group doesn't exert massive amounts of aggression and instead chooses to shoot for a more sustained rhythm. Comparable perhaps to Creed meets the Grunge era with a plethora of modern crunchy riffs, this band compiles some interesting songs within this album. Vocals feel like a middle ground between Cold, Alice In Chains and U2, heavy handed and drawn out they smear the songs with spurned yet complaisant undertones. Although not corrosive or jarringly heavy, they do pack a ripe punch and fit in with the music nicely. Guitarwise the group can stem from Alice In Chains chunk riffs with crinkled distortion all the way to alternative rock solos and shimmering clean tones. At times plodding, riffs lunge out with a mature heaviness, there's a lot of thought put into the style and it shows throughout the bands material. Bass on the other hand is synchronized tightly with the guitar fortifying the high end while giving it brawn and a thicker tone. Not too much experimentation is used and as such the bass seems a bit lost in the mixture, slightly thin in a creative aspect, it's adherence to backing up the guitar is somewhat of a double edged sword. Drums are persistent with resounding cymbal smashes and reliable snare hits. Interesting usage of the kick drum comes into play while the odd tom roll thunders through but for the most part the drums heavily rely on shifting snare/kick patterns. The group puts together warm radio friendly heavy rock songs and do have a tendency for the music to feel more geared to an older audience though due to the bright focus on restrained melody. Not as rabid as most bands out there, this group shoots from the hip and creates a calculated fresh sounding mixture of nu metal, hard rock and grunge. Although there is a few screams and aggravated vocals layered in the disc, there's a general overall lack of lyrical fierceness and some weak content at times and this detracts from the music indefinitely. Another pitfall to this disc could be the entirely too polished nature of the song structures, they tend to flow very smoothly and there are some inquisitive breakdowns, but it feels slightly confined. Bender meld together an interesting blend of hard music stemming from old to new influences. Polite yet aggressive, this groups music seems streamlined for hard rock radio, and provides a welcome change from the diluted crop of clones currently hogging the spotlight.
(3.5 / 5)