Tenfold sketch out a melodically dense strain of emo and crumple it with callused screams and vicious riffs. The sounds of groups like the Deftones and Sense Field are not lost upon this band, but they are also not emulated as the music present here blends long winded vocals that hang with moody drones and muddy instrumentation. Anger is exuded and downbeaten verses are tread upon, building up momentum that eventually erupts into scorching choruses and aggressive breakdowns that shove with genuine intensity. Vocally the album is saturated with drawn out words and climactic verbal inflections that are held in place with raspy screams and explosive growls. An unorthodox style is implemented which tends to makes the aural contributions sway throughout the tracks, perpetually leaving their scent on every note spit out with at least one tone or another while forcing out a rollercoaster of emotion. Vocally sounding like a cross between Shortie meets System Of A Down, the group has a somewhat eclectic aspect as frontman Justin's heartfelt croons crisscross with bassist Doug's fiery wails, implementing uncommon lyrical patterns. Guitars are a steady medium tuning wise and come across with a slightly emo meets punk in nature, yet don't hold any close ties to the traditional playing ideals of said styles. Mildly distorted with a constant buzz, they squeak out whirring chords and upbeat notes that are almost literally cut apart with snarling riffs that stab through the speakers when the songs heat up. Bass plods forward with a downtuned feel and almost lethargic basslines that establish the lowend as the strongest driving force within the bands music, sounding well rounded and building up foundation while keeping focus they do more than their part of motivating the other instruments and keeping the pace. Drums are brittle featuring a tightly tuned snare that snaps and cracks with each hit. Moderate usage of rolls are tossed into play and some muted cymbal and highhat splashes make their presence known, spacing themselves out between the snare driven beats and thundering kick drum, but with heavy snare variation and little else, it begins to feel a bit thin after a few listens. As a whole the band has noticeable talent that is prevalent from their passionate vocals and ability to capture an honest intensity, to their winding song structures and combustible adrenaline laced bursts of rage, there is no question that the band has a sound and dynamic that they can lay their own claim to. But one thing generally tends to hold each song back, it being the dirty sounding instrumentation and unfocused direction taken. Rather than gel the instruments together and hone a sharpened sound, the band opts for a blunt object approach which although is lethal, lacks the ability to really skewer the listener and instead dazes them with each instrument sounding a bit too independent of each other. Still the band has a gift and with a concentrated approach it will undoubtedly play off in their favor, but some time spent nurturing it and molding it is still necessary to propel their sound to truly breathtaking proportions. Tenfold show that new branches can still stem off the tree that acts like Far and the Deftones helped plant, and flourish on their own accord, but its going to take bit more thickening at the base before this group has enough strength to hold more than their own weight.
(3.5 / 5)