Fear The Clown is a name that may bring to mind kooky images of the Insane Clown Posse and the like, who have bastardized the once harmless children's performers image into fairly cheesy horrorcore styled rap; But don't be fooled as this melodic modern metal three piece are about as far distanced from the latter as the sun is from the earth. Sounding like a cross between Taproot, recent Simon Says, unloco, The Blank Theory and Mr. Downstairs, the group seem to have a certain post hardcore air to them, yet they combine it with elements of modern aggression, crafting music that is placid and slow moving, yet able to viciously lash out when necessary.

Band frontman/guitarist Andrew "Gambit" West delivers a fairly pensive performance as a whole, slowly crooning out his notes with the occasional waiver, sounding somewhat like a depressed version of Taproot frontman Stephen Richards; While bassist Mike helps to inject a little energy into the mix with his occasional contributions of throaty barks and screams. Meanwhile, the guitar work laid out by Andrew is fairly simplistic, but does manage to add its own flavor to the songs, using a few gritty distorted riffs to compliment its generally complacent play book of melodic twists and turns. However, in contrast, the bass playing is perhaps the most prominent instrument included here, leading the songs with a consistent wall of plodding, moderately downtuned hits coupled with some percussive/slap and pop styled playing that utilizes various changes of pace to ensure a continual momentum. Accentuating this, the drumming is a bit scaled down yet competent, choosing to work fairly close with the bass as a whole, making for a tight rhythm section that wraps around the material tightly; While the inclusion of a few samples and keyboards, also courtesy of drummer Chris Shy, give the music a sort of eerie ambiance that manages to provoke the listeners attention.

Surprisingly, overall the music is quite downbeat and doesn't really hit with much aggression, making it stand out a bit as most bands out there today are heading in an increasingly heavy direction. Its competent, and the addition of a few piano passages and other instrumental flourishes help to bolster the songs with some colorful highs and lows. However, overall the song writing feels a bit loose and underdeveloped and the vocal performance courtesy of Andrew doesn't sound entirely confident, leaving things feeling a bit rushed and perhaps rough around the edges. There also isn't much here in terms of dynamics, causing the songs to meander on after a few verses and this really weighs down the bulk of material as a whole. Still, despite its cons, it is admirable to see the band cover a relatively unknown Duran Duran song in the form of "Come Undone", rather than a well known hit. In the end though, Fear The Clown have managed to provide a solid debut, but unfortunately not a lot else. There's just too much left to be desired in terms of musical cognition and song writing to warrant any listener being truly captivated by this release, though with the ideas shown here, there is definitely hope for a more refined follow-up.