With a new label and line-up now in place Dry Kill Logic have seen fit to make their return with "The Dead And Dreaming", an album that proves to be the next logical step for the band. It's no secret that the mainstream metal scene has once again shifted and Dry Kill Logic have wisely taken note of this. Merging their now outdated nu-metal style with the currently more relevant metalcore aesthetic, the band have crafted an album that fits in surprisingly well with today's extreme climate.

Jaggedly chunky riffs crash against pummeling stilted waves of double kick drumming with trauma-inducing force. Throaty grating vocals bark out their orders with ample rage while the band chug forth with staccato displays of brutality. Basically, everything you'd expect from a metalcore outfit these days is present here, and yet Dry Kill Logic take it a step further. By integrating a wealth of non-emo sounding melody and nu-metal reminiscent structuring and dynamics they create what is perhaps the perfect display of 'nu-metalcore'. There are equal elements of both of these contrasting genres on hand and somehow the band have managed to mold them into a coagulated singular assault.

Since their days as Hinge Dry Kill Logic have always exercised a loose feel to their musicianship and this is an aspect that can go either way for them on this album. On their fiercer moments a tighter approach would have easily increased the force of impact. Yet during their lighter, more melodically inclined excursions this softer approach helps to flesh out the atmosphere. Even so, the identity crisis on display is plagued with mixed results. Sometimes the band are firing on all cylinders with an entirely modern approach and at others they're meandering through a sound that is hopelessly overplayed. No doubt this album will be a worthy addition to the collection of those who regard Slipknot and "Supercharger"-era Machine Head as the epitome of heavy. But those who have said goodbye to the late 90's/early 00's will likely be left daydreaming or bored to death by the time this album hits the halfway mark.