The apple doesn't often fall far from the tree and for Between The Buried And Me offshoot/side project Glass Casket (who feature Between The Buried And Me's Dusty Waring and Blake Richardson), neither does the level of brutality. Keeping up with the extreme output North Carolina has been known for in recent years, "A Desperate Man's Diaries" takes key nods from metalcore, black metal, death metal and grind, among others, and buries them all alive underneath a metric ton of abrasive riffage.

Kicked in the throat vocals bellow and screech out their heated contributions to the tracks as the band discharge their aggression in a loose, yet proficient nature. While much focus is put upon the rather lean toned dynamic riffing, the rhythm section eagerly keeps step and rarely lets up. Technically charged, the overall song compositions are borderline tech in places as the group routinely switch gears and tempos, while grinding down their guitar picks and splintering their drumsticks in the process.

Throughout the album it's not uncommon to hear traces of the symphonic tendencies of today's modern black metal and this gives an air of maturity to what Glass Casket do. However, leave the corpse paint at home as the band seem more intent on delivering instrumental prowess and structured barbarity than soundtracks to burn down churches to. In this regard, much of what they do is well put together. It captures the virtuoso nature Europeans can't get enough of and remains belligerent enough to appeal to North American audiences as well.

The included production accentuates these qualities as it comes off as a touch raw and adds to the intensity of the groups assault. The only real problem is that there is little room to breathe and everything is played so unflinchingly that it's hard to digest more than short bursts at a time. Occasionally the group will melt into a lingering instrumental or even the standard spoken word piano dirge; but realistically, by the end of "A Desperate Man's Diaries", more than a few listeners will feel like they've been on the receiving end of a sonic battering ram one too many times.