The cover of Vice's Get Down, Stay Down features what may be an abstract painting of a moon or a cave. While the band does avoid pinpointing themselves too much a particular concept, at times their abstractionism comes at the price of imagery, although their brand of modern hardcore is well executed.

Vice seem to split their sound between the darker, Cleveland-style hardcore/metalcore and the more energetic New York style. As the band cuts through their four tracks, the songs sound massive. The band remains at a mid-tempo which gives the songs a fitting cadence and allows the texture of the bands aggressive, clanging sound to resonate.

Like a good deal of hardcore, the lyrics deal with loneliness, depression, not fitting in and being unsure of one's friends. While at times the band strays near the "You backstabbed me man!" approach, they are able to sidestep the N.Y. cliche and maintain a vagueness that allows the lyrics of despair to be applied to any situation.

But, as with both the lyrics and the music, while it's all well executed, there is not enough to anchor it to anything particular. The lyrics bemoan the modern condition, but don't give the listener much of a foothold to apply it to either the listener's experience nor paint a picture of what the band has in mind. Likewise, the music is loud and heavy, but some more distinction in song craft would raise the music above merely sounding mean into something sounding mean and distinct.

Vice are off to a good start and clearly understand their path. It seems they just need a common objective and they'll be able to go to the next level.