Farewell to Freeway

It's not until "Top Gun," five songs into Filthy Habits, that Farewell to Freeway produce something worth listening to. The Guelph, ON metalcore quartet (keyboardist Michele Walter recently left the band) waste the first four songs of the 12-song album, blindly producing lifeless melodic hardcore. That's a lot of wasted time. "Top Gun" starts out in similar fashion, with an unimaginative guitar riff and Adam Lambert's mildly engaging growl, but the track, and album, takes a distinct turn when the outro allows a high-pitched riff to form. Played over and over, Lambert is able to fully display the desperation and emotion in his screams; it saves Filthy Habits from the trash heap, turning it into a listenable record with a number of highlights. Instead of trying to push, shove and stuff as many different parts into a song as possible, the band have and epiphany: it's okay to elongate good ideas. On "Dharma's A Bitch," they exemplify how perfectly clean and screaming vocals can coexist, setting up a powerful ending when the band jam on one riff, with Lambert interjecting vocal punches until it abruptly ends. Although Filthy Habits hits every wrong note when it begins, Farewell To Freeway find a way to redeem themselves.