Casting Curses have received acclaim on this very site for their hardcore sound that at one point combined the heavy angularities of Turmoil with the faster, brutal tilt of the Promise. On Cold All Over Again, Casting Curses shake off the influences a bit and begin to develop a sound that's more their own.

There's a lot of random experiments on this record that remind me of the last Killing the Dream EP-a hardcore record no doubt, but one that sees a band trying a variety of new things. The best part of all-too-brief opener "Reintroducing" is the guitar-led, momentary chaos, but the track ends before it ever really has a chance to develop something. "American Ignorance" explores the potential more thoughtfully with a cool, further-reaching guitar tone and distinct, subtle riffing panned to one speaker. "When Everybody Loves You" creatively fires out a fast tempo that unexpectedly grinds to a halt, with the most vague hint of southern-style snarling in the vocals. Cleaner singing then makes a surprise appearance on the closing title track to decent effect.

The ambition on this transitional 7" is quite clear. You almost couldn't even call it deviation, because Casting Curses aren't deviating from a clear, developed sound on this 7"-they're just coming up with something different at every turn, and it makes this an interesting effort as a result. Maybe not a fantastic, thoroughly enjoyable effort, but definitely an interesting one.

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Cold All Over Again EP