I may have mentioned it 4 years ago when I reviewed Billy Graziadei’s debut album that other than a couple Biohazard songs that I have on compilations, I’ve never really listened to an album of theirs. So sure, owing to him doing guitars and vocals for both there shall definitely be similarities, however there is a wider spectrum of styles here than just hardcore or metal. Even if the anger and outrage is carried through unmolested. There are fifteen tracks on this 43-minute album, which means they tend to be short and to the point, but that doesn’t mean lacking in substance. We have Ra Diaz and Dan Manca taking care of bass duties on the album, while guitarists Dan Palmer and Robbie Davidson get to play some leads.
The album opens with the mid-paced “Black Out”, where Billy’s vocals go from growls to clean with some rapping for good measure, as the chunky guitars are keeping time with Fred Aching Rios’s clean drum sound and snappy snare.
A little bit of a sci-fi sounding intro to “Fallen Empires” is quickly swept aside by the heavier guitars, but it’s the vocal melody on the chorus that sings out pleasantly as the bass pops in the background when the drums become a rolling rumble.
Title track, “Leaders and Liars” picks up the pace to give as a great bouncy beat which a quick lead solo to add a little more flavour to the song.
Heading to full on thrash territory, “Lost Horizon” rips along with angrily spat out lyrics that completely contrast with the melodic, gentle background vocals before things slow down perceptibly for “Turn the Wounds” where the vocals have an anguished edge to their shouts, but once the drums build to race along with the guitars and fast vocals there is a touch more levity as the song nears the end.
“Sheepdog” feels more like an instrumental interlude, if it weren’t for the words being spoken in the background under the boomy drums and wispy guitars, “Deception” on the other hand makes no such attempts to confuse, as the chanting vocals and accompanying drums have an undercurrent of guitars to lightly fill out the sound and add to the singing melody of the multi-voiced chorus.
Approaching death metal aggression for the opening of “Generation Kill”, the drums settle to face paced metal as the vocals mellow from growls to clean melodies with the bass and guitars following suite.
Slow but bouncy, the rhythm of “Looking Up” gives the vocals room to change their cadence to match the tempo as the drums find their groove, which the allegro “One Life To Live” does again to show that not everything is about anger and aggression.
“Our Scene” however, is back to fast and choppy which matches the lyrical content and subject matter well, as does the lengthy lead that becomes all bluesy as it fades out.
Another interlude in the form of “Just The Sun” has some haunting female vocals over a pleasant harmony that is completely blown away as it abruptly jumps into “Enough”, where the venom is the vocals is palpable with vicious guitars and blasted drums to drive the message home.
The sweet female vocals are back for the ultrashort “Remission” where the bass follows a jazzy brush stroke on the cymbals, giving the song a very ambient complexion.
The album ends with “Cyanide”, which is predominantly slow but with a couple faster sections to move things along, but definitely a good track to wrap up things with owing to its extremely positive message.
I enjoyed the album as a whole, as the songs are short enough to keep things changing but cohesive enough to also work well as a whole.
(8/10 Marco Gaminara)
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