Welcome Death Is Not Glamorous to the newest, gradually accumulating wave of super poppy melodic hardcore. The band has obviously taken up classes at the Lifetime School of Melodicore Hooks, and boy, they're well on their way to their bachelor's. Demo 2005 is a fun and positive albeit awfully derivative take on the style that's plenty enjoyable all the same.

With one listen of opener "The Fallback," you can tell these guys aren't from New Jersey. I can't tell if lead singer Christian Medaas has a thick accent or not; he simply sounds foreign, perhaps due to the wildly raspy nature of his voice. The novelty (good or bad, it isn't necessarily either) wears off quickly, luckily, as one of the EP's best tracks comes next in "Think You Can," bringing to mind the currently defunct Backup Plan. It's the band sticking the closest they can to angry hardcore punk, and apparently they do it rather well. "Close-Knit" and "Elephants" brings us back into the more upbeat, pop-punk-oriented reaches of the band's grips. Closer "Assets" is the other standout here; Medaas's vocal approach seems pretty creative here, as he sounds a bit frustrated abruptly shouting lines over skatepunk structure until a slight tempo change is applied for the chorus with a bouncy, power-chord approach that actually gives the song a good, diverse quality.

DING's Demo definitely isn't deathly distinct or doubtlessly devising. Still, their embryonic stage is a pretty fun one to watch, as out of hand as this metaphor is already. But seriously, the Norway-based outfit is definitely one to watch (notably thanks to "Think You Can" and "Assets"), and should assuredly pair their refreshing attitudes with some even better tunes soon.

DOWNLOAD Demo 2005 as a zip file