With brutish stomping metal grooves reminiscent to that of Chimaira and Nothingface and a wavering melodic side to boot, Pureblank are an up and coming Canadian band who look to mean business. Enraged screams and double kick styled percussive bombardments are what is served up here by the truckload while a few introspective interludes round out the bands attack which is heavy on crunchy staccato riffery and pugnacious expression.

At times similar to Chimaira frontman Mark Hunter during his fiercer moments, band vocalist Byron Gillespie unleashes many a throaty bark and scream throughout the course of the EP. Some melodic metal passages are thrown in for good measure and manage to variate the tempo and allow for some experimentation as well. The guitar playing however generally takes shape in the form of scratchy distorted groove heavy riffing that works together closely with the bass playing to provide a dense sonic battering. Capitalizing upon this, the thudding drumming performance which is often rife with double kick driven beats lends itself as the foundation to its string comrades and gives the band the ability to belt out some powerfully concentrated breakdowns.

As a whole this EP is a startlingly well rounded debut offering and should go far to help them build up a strong local fan base. The material is authentically heavy sounding and lays down some fairly vehement metal when the band hit their stride. The melodic singing aspect of it helps to round out the tracks, though it does tend to feel a bit weak and underdeveloped in contrast to the confident demeanor which the band exude during their heavier times. As such its hard not to feel that some work will definitely need to be done on the harmonies if they are to match up evenly with the emotion conveyed through the harsh screams and guttural styled barks. Sadly, the EP also suffers from some washed out production in terms of the mix of the guitar and bass, making it rather hard to differentiate the two on the bulk of the material included here, particularly with the guitar tones lacking any crisp punch. Aside from those potential pitfalls though the band look to have a bright future ahead of them and if they are able to refine their sound and grind down the rough edges they should easily be able to break out of their hometown area and begin to make an admirable name for themselves with future releases.