Wow, someone needs a hug. I knew right from the moment I looked at this CD that I wasn't going to be hearing anything pretty or easily catchy on this release. But that's not always a bad thing. When I put this CD on in the car, the sky darkened, birds stopped chirping, and small, fuzzy, woodland creatures stood frozen in terror. Ok, so maybe that last part is a lie, but you get the idea, this stuff is heavy.

Taking cues from metal tinged hardcore and doom, this four piece has orchestrated the soundtrack to the end of the world or atleast some music to listen to when you're moving furniture. You won't find any high fret, Swedish style, death metal riffs here. Instead of taking the melodic route, this band has chosen to pummel the listener until they simply give in and start to nod their head. Usually, bands like this bore me to tears, but How It Ends pulls off this style well enough to be somewhat interesting and earn a few listens.

The lyrics are probably the weakest part of this album. "It's all that I was, all that I am. I just hate with everything I can. What the fuck, I ruin everything Just let me die I'm suffering." Who are these guys, Slipknot? Fellow Philadelphians Dark Day Dawning and All Else Failed do a much better job at conveying this sort of emotion. I hope that in the future this band can move beyond the "I hate myself, I want to die"(add fuck or one of it's variants randomly to this phrase)lyricism and do something fresh and new.

So what does that leave us with? This is a decent enough debut release for these guys, and if they can build on this foundation we might be hearing alot from them in the future. If you like heavy music, you might be interested in these guys. It's not though provoking by any means, but it's not bad.