Waterdown are a powerful emocore outfit from Germany who have enough ferocity and bold ideas to give any of their North American compatriots a run for their money. Combining traditional hardcore, catchy emo, alternative pop punk and even a touch of early 90's metal, they creatively blend genre's with sincerity, consistently surprising the listener with their breadth of talent. Individually, comparisons of certain aspects of their music can become quite apparent, but as a whole, the sheer scope of this album and the ground it covers draws heavy similarities to the likes of Haste or perhaps even a more emo influenced version of the now cult act, Refused.

Utilizing two vocalists, the group divide the roles of melodic singing and hardcore based screams between frontmen Marcel and Ingo respectively. At times using warm, passionate croons with a certain pop sensibility, the songs can take on an easily accessible feel, yet the group also manage to inject intensity with well placed throaty outbursts and furious barks. Guitar wise the effort walks a thin line between energetic emo noodling and chunky hardcore riffery for the most part, but there also a few sonic tangents where the two guitarists Holger and Claus, indulge within turbulent harmonics and odd timing structures. The bass playing present here is fairly straight forward and serves the exemplary role of support, beefing up the guitar riffs when necessary and holding it all together in-between. Drum work is quite accomplished, rounding out the rhythm section with a sharp playing style that employs some clever timing structures and pummeling rolls to hold interest and keep the tracks regimented.

Interesting ideas abound on this effort, as the ambitious combination of various sub genres smoothly flow into a singular, progressive stream. It's actually quite charming the way they are able to mix things up and toss in the occasional quirk; all the while sounding cohesive and intelligent rather than sloppy and contrived. There's a variety of different avenues touched upon, from catchy anthem like choruses all the way to pugnacious in your face hardcore, along with the odd guitar solo to add color. However, things can get a bit lost in the translation though, as the pronunciation of a few words here and there can be slightly off and the bands ideas can also somewhat lose their focus, veering off into left field rather unexpectedly. But when it all comes down to it, the skill and fresh concepts they use and the way they meld them all together, make this CD a highly recommended listen for anyone into hardcore or emo that's looking to broaden their horizons. There's ample amounts of passion, anger and enough abstract instrumentation here to keep the attention whirring, In fact, while the North American scene has been stagnating as of late, its by no surprise that a band as intriguing as this comes from overseas. Sure, they may not exactly kill the boy on the first date, but they definitely do their best to try and maim and cripple him.