The question here, my friends, is just how much bleeding-throat screaming over extremely competent grindish-thrash metal can you take? I've got an appreciation for bands that play music loud, fast and distorted. That much is true. But there is a breaking point.

It's the same reason we all only listen to Reign in Blood instead of roating through Seasons of the Abyss and South of Heaven and Hell Awaits. The lack of a hook can be grating. And minute-long songs rarely have enough time to establish a solid hook.

I'm not saying that Ghostlimb has put out a bad record. Everything's there -- breakneck drums, shredding riffs and oppressively vocal cord-shredding vocals. But music and music appreciation is usually dependent on two things: memorization or anticipation. The best songs are instantly memorable, or allow the listener to anticipate the next movement of the song. It's how our brains are wired. I heard about it on NPR.

If you're like me, you'll thoroughly enjoy these 20 minutes of modern emotional thrash, and then likely never listen to the album again. But the strength of a good band is their ability to evolve; let's hope the next Ghostlimb has more of a groove.