Much like their peers in Haste The Day, Still Remains seem deadset on escaping America's Midwest and taking their music to the national level; and with such an impassioned fusion of gritty metalcore, black/death metal styled vocals and symphonic melodic flourishes in their clutches, "If Love Was Born To Die" could very well be their first-class ticket out of there. On the surface the group draw comparisons to bands like Underoath, Atreyu, and perhaps even Zao, but such resemblances quickly become merely cosmetic.

Instead what Still Remains thrive on creating is agonized modern metalcore wrapped in walls of droning synth and uplifting keyboard parts. Such a combination has of course been drawn out before, but these gentlemen still manage to make it work for themselves by actually investing palpable emotion into their music - thus eliminating the general sterility that is commonplace these days. Rather unsurprisingly there is a dual vocal assault on hand with lush strung out melodies accentuating (and sometimes even colliding head first) with asphyxiated barks and screams. While this alone has become cliche enough to make most jaded listeners utter a sigh, this sextet have managed to nurture a human element that keeps the contrasting parts feeling intertwined and organic, rather than disembodied or cut and pasted.

In fact, this dedication to both aspects of their sound is really one of the bands strongpoints as it sees them freely mixing them together throughout the entire songs, rather than only on the choruses and breakdowns. With this being the case, the included elements of brutality and sensitivity are each able to quickly strike a chord with the listener. Admittedly though there isn't anything groundbreaking or earth shattering contained on this EP - it is fairly limited in scope overall. But through the inclusion of keys and a more freeform songwriting style, this outfit still wind up delivering something that will deservedly remain in the mind of the listener for a lot longer than that currently being shoveled out by similar newcomers out there.