I wouldn't want to get in a fight with these guys. No way! They've got axes, wrenches, knives, and chainsaws on their album artwork and they sound heavier than the damage any of those weapons could cause. Rest assured though, this review doesn't reflect favorably on Suffocate Faster just because I'm afraid of them.

I try not to get too excited about a new CD these days, save for a few bands that have established themselves as dependable. So once I popped Only Time Will Tell into my stereo and thought to myself "Hey, alright!" I didn't allow myself to get too excited. I was sure that while they sounded like a really good metal/hardcore band at first they were bound to break into some pussy singing, which would totally kill the mood. If not that, then they were going to do something equally inexcusable like have vocalist Chris Alsip sing in a really heavy voice about some pussy stuff.

But it didn't happen! Instead, on Only Time Will Tell, the listener is treated to nothing but ridiculously heavy music with a double bass peddle that won't let up and guitar riffs that serve only to intensify Alsip's lyrics, which are intense enough on their own. Dude's been betrayed in the past, and he's pissed about it, but time and time again the band comes back to drive home the importance of pride and principle in a world that too quickly abandons such traits. At only half an hour in length, Only Time Will Tell stays consistent, an important accomplishment in an album that falls just short of long.

Suffocate Faster is heavier than a lot of the bands flying the metalcore flag out there these days.

They do thank Hazen Street in the liner notes, though.