Reading press releases can be funny, informative, or just flat out annoying. The press release for this EP from Silence the Foe falls into the last category. I have no problem with being creative with your writing, but if you’re just going to rattle off ridiculous things like “Like a raging blizzard in the Sahara desert,” you might as well save yourself the trouble and leave the page blank.

Still, I was interested in seeing how accurate the press release was, in a “lets see how much this sucks” kind of way. However, I ran into a slight roadblock, this EP doesn’t suck; it’s actually very good. The first thing that popped into my head upon listening to this disc was “screamo.” I know, I’m not supposed to say that word, as it will cause a flood of people saying things like “screamo is emo and screamo doesn’t exist” and the ever-popular “screamo? Taking Back Sunday sucks.” However, I’m speaking of the 90’s definition. Take chaotic blasts of emotive, hardcore influenced music, and add shrieked vocals and you’ll have a pretty good idea of what I’m talking about. The band uses, but doesn’t abuse loud/soft dynamics, something that a lot of bands could learn from. Silence The Foe’s sound really comes together on the EP’s third track, “As The Holy Spirit Carries Me Like Angels” with its swirling guitars, and desperate sounding vocals. This band will probably get lumped into the metalcore genre, but their sound is noticeably more hardcore influenced than most of the bands that get that tag.

With a CD-R and horrible press release, this wasn’t exactly the most appealing CD in my review pile, but what the band lacks in aesthetics, they make up for in their music. I’m not sure if it’s a raging blizzard in the Sahara desert, but I think I can let that slide.

My Favorite Track: As The Holy Spirit Carries Me Like Angels

Chaotic Mind MP3