For their latest outing the ever-changing line-up that constitutes Society's Finest have decided to combine their harder to find "Private Conflicts And Suicides" EP with a handful of new tracks, thus presenting the listener with a paradox of old versus new. Having now aligned themselves with the newly forged Hand Of Hope Records label, the group once again look set to prove themselves - that is if their line-up can stick together long enough.

Since the bands last release, frontman Josh Ashworth spent a short time fronting Zao and that stint seems to have influenced the new material laid out here. His vocal approach comes off as rather ferocious, screaming astringently as the metal machine behind him deftly switches the tempo to accommodate him. Not surprisingly there are shades of various extreme metal genres in place and while each glimpse of a style, whether it be Swedish thrash, death or metalcore, is played with talent, the rapid pace ensures that the proverbial cement never dries.

There's no denying the havoc caused when this band lock into a solid groove or some speedy thrashing. Unfortunately though, the approach they take seems to try too hard to be all encompassing. The songs suffer as a result as their hyperactive imagination robs them of their own momentum. This becomes even more of a problem when the fact that they aren't entirely innovative is weighed into the equation. The most damning strike against this effort comes in the form of the decision to include previously released material however. The band have evolved considerably since said tracks were recorded and the different styles don't entirely mesh together as well as an entire albums worth of new material would. These gripes aside, the new songs included here do tend to satisfy on sheer heaviness alone, but good luck remembering the specifics afterwards.