It goes without saying that to stay relevant in 2006 any metalcore band launching a new album better have burned the verse/chorus/breakdown textbook and brought some of their own knowledge to the table. While relative newcomers Burn In Silence may not have done this entirely, "Angel Maker" has enough outside elements that it won't easily get lost in-between the Hatebreed and Killswitch Engage folders on your iPod.

Sure at their core Burn In Silence indulge heavily in the razor-sharp thrashy modern metalcore discipline you'd expect a band who hails from Massachusetts to be fully versed in. But this reliance is more of an underpinning than a manifesto. The group often merely build off of it and add in their own creative splashes, such as the symphonic electronic/keyboard nuances of color and atmosphere played in a surprisingly refined and subtle black metal fashion.

Also thrown in are the almost Fear Factory reminiscent melodic vocals; which go ever so slightly across the grain of the raging metal unfurling underneath them to reveal that detached omnipotent approach Burton C. Bell perfected. On top of that there is also a rather crushing sense of timing throughout the songs courtesy of the intertwined syncopation of the rhythm section and the dual guitars. This alone exponentially increases the breadth of the bands breakdowns and beyond.

Even so, the problem of the group locking themselves in a rut by not using enough of their unique strengths arises and by about halfway through they begin to tread water. Similar pacing, a lack of individuality throughout the tracks and the other usual suspects become numbing if not frustrating. Especially when the group so clearly have more to offer. All in all, they may have not made something divine here, but it will still pummel the holy hell out of those who give it a spin.