Frontline

Frontline carry on what has become an almost quasi-Quebecer tradition of metal-/deathcore bands featuring two singers. Also on display is super-down-tuned fight metal of sorts. It's so down tuned, in fact, that it's a marvel the strings didn't fall off during the recording. And here we have one of the album's glaring issues: there's no attack or intensity. Sure, it's heavy and even quite brutal, at times, but the über-dependency on chugging rhythms, moshable grooves and foreplay after foreplay leading up to tiresome breakdowns render the whole sluggish, dull and yawn-inducing. The CD doesn't come with any lyrics and maybe the words don't matter all that much to these lads, but I made out a question addressed in "High Stakes," asking somebody if he or she walks the walk like he or she talks the talk. The query is preceded with the sound of a bullet being loaded into a chamber of a gun. On the positive side, the dual vocal approach works very well. One guy growls like only a Uruk-hai could (bad ass) and the other sounds like the singer from France's notorious Kickback, sure to bring about bad tendencies in the listener. And this is good. The drums are tight and have an unusually cool kick and snare drum sound for this genre. This material is chest-beat-worthy and if you're into violence and single-note riffs, with occasional metal licks thrown in for a good measure, this might be something for you. But I'll pass.