Relative Ash vigorously channel their pain and torment into this energetic major label debut which comes filled to the brim with blistering screams and convulsing instrumental aggression. Powering through the albums 11 tracks with unrelenting verses that go from calm to screaming instantaneously, the music is thrown out like paint splatters against a wall... sloppy and colorful with a violently pleasing undercurrent. The group's creations bring to mind a cross between mid 90's Deftones and current underground favorites Shortie, as their sound spills out auditory expression through the speakers like blood from a fatal stab wound, pulsing with intense spurts. It's odd that the band sounds so similar to the almost trademarked Sacramento sound, when they in fact hail from the locale most famously known as the windy city, but despite the obvious distance between the two cities, its clear that the musical connection can transcend into any scene. Vocally the album is topped off with verbal schizophrenia as the twisted words drag themselves like a wounded animal crooning out whispered lyrics reminiscent of Chino Moreno, before suddenly exploding into voracious screams, hell bent like an enraged maniac lunging for the listeners throat. There's no predicting what going to come next and both aspects of the emotional psyche touched on here strike with force and callous. Guitar wise the album is a bit sludgy as riffs scrape and scour with a warm distortion and a slight downtuning to keep things feeling loose and free flowing. The odd squeal is mixed in a with a few clean tones and pasted together with effects that are utilized to create pressure to make sure a building momentum is attained, but all in all, the riffs laid down end up becoming almost nothing more than a springboard for the oral contribution of this album to launch off of. Bass is also tuned to a lower degree and brings forth looming riffs that have a restrained finesse and eagerly support the guitar, as they act as a buffer between the piercing drums and cranky guitar work. Slightly spastic and a bit experimental, the performance captured lowend wise, is quite impressive and tactful enough to accentuate the music with an extra burst of flavor, carrying the songs forward and ensuring steady progression. Drums are tuned quite high and feature a fair amount of reverb as stunning snare hits are thrown in chaotically and mixed with constant fills and agitated tom rolls that match the disorderly vocals in both speed and frenzy. The group's sound is potent and each element included hits hard, but the mixture is excessively sloppy and the songs lack an overall general direction. It seems that rather than focusing their rage and channeling the intensity into an effective method of attack, it is instead strewn about carelessly , which instead of invoking distinct emotion in the listener, manages to become like one long roller coaster of songs that doesn't end. Many people will be quick to write off the band as a Deftones rip-off, but there's definitely enough unique ideas and brutality included here to debunk such claims, unfortunately though, talent and ability can only go so far without solid songwriting, a quality which this album suffers heavily from the lack of. Relative Ash burn like a an intense fire, packed with explosive emotion that is both fast and furious, but sadly they lack the fuel to keep it consistently burning, causing the bulk of the songs included here to become nothing more than smoldering embers that desperately try to ignite before fading away.
(3.5 / 5)