Canadian outfit Gladyss Patches exemplify the sound of contemporary heavy music to a tee, amalgamating elements of new metal with rapcore and coating them with a hard radio rock edge. Sounding roughly like a cross between Superheist, Limp Bizkit, Staind and Linkin Park, the music is powerful and the vocals are maturely refined, touching upon various aspects as the group plow through their engaging blend of atmospheric modern metal and straight forward rapcore styled crunch.

Vocally, abrasive raps are contrasted with strong melodic choruses and breakdowns, bringing to mind Superheist and Linkin Park, yet the lyrical progressions are less packaged, allowing some empowering hooks and touching harmonies to spring forth. The guitar work belts out raw modern metal chunk riffs that plunge onward, while variation usually comes in the form of effect aided buildups and interludes. Meanwhile, the bass playing is equally as versatile, laying down a dense coating of low end that tends to work hand in hand with the guitars, at times even taking on some distortion as the two switch parts back and forth. On the other hand, the drumming included is somewhat stiff, but keeps the songs in line and on a steady course, using a dulled tuning that compliments the roomy bass tones.

Gladyss Patches are a talented outfit who have all the right moves to make a break through and chalk themselves up a few hits. Their songs are concisely written and played with a vigor and talent that rivals many of today's big names. However, the one thing they seem to lack is a unique sense of creativity, as the bulk of their songs seem to bring to mind the better elements of other groups out there. Though the bands in question may not mix things up as ambitiously as this five piece do, the similarities can tend to detract from the overall enjoyment, making things sound a bit too calculated and by the numbers. Without question, "A Wish This Simple", is an extremely solid record that is well done on all accounts, but perhaps its the fact that its basically precisely executed modern metal without identity that stops it from being a truly amazing outing. If you're looking for something that will go down smoothly and is easily accessible in contrast to today's musical climate, this album will fit perfectly into your collection, but if you've been in tune to the scene for a few years already and seen many of this bands influences come up through the ranks, you may not find much that's inspiring here. Not to say that its a bad record in any sense, but it doesn't necessarily attempt to try anything innovative in the end.