The progression of Flint, MI's Chiodos is a rather strange one. Formerly the Chiodos Bros., the band's sound was essentially a lame duck ripoff of -- you guessed it -- the Blood Brothers. With the name change comes a severe departure from that sound. Generally speaking, the band now treads a more melodic post-hardcore territory with some screams of the Anatomy Of A Ghost / Saosin variety, but with a slight Horse The Band influence in the outfit's liberal use of keyboards and scattered metalcore riffs/structure. However, there are striking vocal and style similarities to Scary Kids Scaring Kids as well; only, Chiodos are a bit more original and about a thousand times as dynamic. In that sense, you could sort of say that Chiodos' second full-length, All's Well That Ends Well, delivers where SKSK's The City Sleeps In Flames failed miserably to.

Standouts on a relatively dragging but fairly creative disc include the nicely energetic and more simplistic "Baby, You Wouldn't Last A Minute On The Creek," with its super catchy hook of "this is probably the best (not to mention) the worst idea that I have ever had." In most other tracks, the band is more complex but never overdoes things, and when they do it's fairly obvious who they're drawing influence from. Exactly :53 into "The World's 'Best Friend' Become Redefined," there's a section of spoken word with the same exact vocal effect used in Circle Takes The Square's "Interview At The Ruins;" at least they pick yet another highly respectable band to rip off, if for only a moment. Tracks like "A Nereids Beware" and "Who's Sandie Jenkins" explore Craig Owens' amazing tenor over some delicate piano, exceeding that of any and all Copeland wannabes.

All's Well That Ends Well definitely has its moments, and carries on Equal Vision's habit of late in great artwork and layouts, this one overshadowing its cheesy D&D-esque imagery with interesting mostly purple/green color combinations and skeletal silhouettes on the back (everything of which is nearly ruined by the "I'LL STOP STABBING WHEN YOU STOP SCREAMING" line scattered around places on the packaging). It's not overwhelming, but it's a nice blend of two somewhat polar styles and a pretty refreshing hybrid on the whole.

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Baby, You Wouldn't Last A Minute On The Creek