Alright fucking listen up. Coming up right here in this next song, is the biggest fucking breakdown you've ever fucking heard. So fucking listen up, because if you miss this breakdown, you're seriously fucking retarded.- The lead singer of It Dies Today, circa November 2003 at one of This Day Forward's final shows.
It's quotes like that in which my distaste for the majority of metalcore is so clearly evident. At first glance of their name, Gunmetal Grey sounds like a metalcore band, and at first listen of their music, your assumptions about their name receive backup. Luckily enough, Gunmetal Grey are more akin to Swedish metal-influenced metalcore acts like As Hope Dies, and in a stretch, maybe even Darkest Hour. There's your standard double bass and some breakdowns, but there's a lot more to be found than just those metalcore clichés with Solitude.
Most notably, there are some really solid guitar solos to be found, with "The Crown Of Deception" displaying the most memorable of those, but it does at times feel a bit like rehashed Metallica. Not a bad place to borrow from, really, but I'd still take originality over that. If you can look past that, however, the solos really do impress, as do singer Herman Hermida's vocals. There's a good range to be found, putting Hermida at the upper end of the spectrum as far as metalcore vocalists go. At their base, these songs are well constructed, and well produced for what they are, and even the melodic singing found in the some of the songs manages to stay off my nerves. As many positives as I could find here, the fact still remains that there's just not much left to be done with this kind of music. Sure, Solitude has some good vocals, and some great solos going for it, but how long can that really hold somebody's attention for?
If you're a fan of this band, it's really not a bad pickup, as there's some good tracks and some average tracks, but it just seems you'd get more from your money to see them live. Though, the Cro-Mags cover of "Life On My Own" is definitely worth hearing. This band does have potential, and with a little guidance they could be doing some things a few albums down the road, but for now, there's better out there.