While a name like Jacknife and a home state of Texas may conjure up visions of southern bar room rock, "Moment Of Reckoning", the latest effort from this fearsome quintet, surely does not. An enraged combination of the teeth-gritting metalcore determination of Hatebreed and the blackened modern thrash of Lamb Of God, Jacknife are not one for mercy.

A sadistic vocal performance barks out its orders as dexterous riffing heavy on thrash overtones jockeys for its own share of the spotlight. Grounding this assault is a chugging rhythm section, which while versatile enough to galvanize the more pointed guitar leads, keeps a heavy-handed approach to ensure a steady clobbering.

But while the bands anger and slick technical proficiency are their greatest strengths, dynamic songwriting is unfortunately not. The material is well-structured and the intensity levels are high, but a reliance on breakdowns and build-ups that do little more than veer off into yet another metallic thrust can quickly become repetitive after a few tracks.

On the whole there's nothing that readily stands out as bad about the band, but there's also nothing that sets them apart either. It's a shame that a group this talented can be passed over for a lack of creative identity, but without any prevalent defining characteristics, it shouldn't be entirely unexpected either.