Jude The Obscure's premier offering, The Coldest Winter, doesn't exactly rely on by-the-books double bass or pointless mosh-breakdowns, but at the same time, it isn't anything completely new amongst the recent flood of metalcore bands washing up on shore like abandoned tires and idle sealife.

Overlapping the constant searing screams are occasional melodic vocals, sounding fairly melancholic and hollow, or...with more screams, but it works either way. The barrage of riffs assault the listener with bits of weird guitar effects once in a while, like flange gone totally awry, or dungeon-based reverb (the mid-album epic, "Fingernails and Lampshades," applies some of these). And of course, there's your standard mosh parts, mixed in with what's otherwise surprise changes in pace.

One looming problem is the mixing level; the normal vocals (by normal, I mean the screaming) sound really low in the mix. I know this isn't exactly bubblegum pop, but you nearly have to strain sometimes to hear them, let alone make out the words.

There's room for improvement in sound and otherwise, but this debut does enough things right and stays away from enough things wrong where maybe Jude won't stay obscure for long.

MP3s
Stab
Wake Up My Love