Mutiny Within

Mutiny Within might be one of those young bands that you will love to hate. Their self-titled debut is admittedly one of the most successful attempts at blending elements of thrash, death, clean vocals and growls into one melodic, cohesive package. It is nearly perfect in the sense that not only do the New Jersey-based band obviously have talent, especially with vocalist Chris Clancy, who could give recently departed Dragonforce vocalist ZP Theart a run for his money, but they are savvy enough to create a collection of relatively commercially viable tunes that contain enough metal authenticity to retain their street cred. Depending on the success of this band, I can see people crying "death to false metal!," but the infectiously catchy "Year of Affliction" is simply a great, solid track. Minus the saccharine-sweet, poppy "Forsaken" and the liberal use of keyboards (or is that a keytar?), à la Children of Bodom, haters don't have much to hate with Mutiny Within.