Sadistic Crown is the debut EP from Montreal’s Absolve, a young band who have their musical screws turned tight, but are somewhat hindered by a relatively generic sounding vocalist.

Lets start on the positive side of things here. Musically, Sadistic Crown is brimming with tight performances, hooky, memorable riffs, molten solos and bruising kit work. Their style is that of thrash infused modern death metal, with a sprinkling of melody and hardcore. Now, I wouldn’t go as far to call them metalcore, as the hardcore elements and breakdowns feel much more natural than that of your standard core acts making the rounds. “My Wrath Will Follow You”, “Rot and Decay” and thrashing closer “Hell Dust Impulse” are proof positive of this.

Vocally, Jeff Linstead delivers a performance throughout that falls somewhere between the likes of Phil Anselmo (not another one), Lamb of God‘s Randy Blythe, and Hatebreed‘s Jamey Jasta – three vocalists who seem to be endlessly imitated these days. He performs admirably in this style I suppose, but seems to be mismatched by the talent of his bandmates. The music calls for something a bit more powerful and unique, with perhaps a bit more variety and range.

Absolve are nothing to get to worked up about yet, but are certainly a band I’ll be keeping an eye on in the future.

[Visit the band's website]

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