It could be a long uphill struggle for this innovative Tampa quartet, who are pushing hardcore beyond its old perimeters. Like the opening double punch of "Strive" and "Open-Heart Surgery," the change-ups and progressions of both tunes rip past faster than your brain can take them apart. The themes and chords are so convulated and quick, it's almost like an old Primus tape on continous fast foward. Like top choice hc, the speed and fury are already spoken for. But it's SFNG's strange and wonderful ability to apply a super busy, nimble edge(like adding a fusioney section to the middle of "Tethered") to their scattershot riffage. You should, after all hear what they do to a ska riff, like the jagged beats manhandled during "Patchwork Girl." Can't say much about the pent-up lyrics(including a metalhead's lament for "Godforsaken), but they come with the territory. If we had the chance to remix it, we'd ease up on the fretman's distortion box by a notch, just to let it sizzle instead of always using the guitar as audio sandpaper. Extra credit: a free beer to whoever decided to cover Eddie Money's "Take Me Home Tonight," where the band completly destroys the tune's original mood during their rugged, turnaround conversion. Hidden bonus track on 12: a short, doomy, Sabbethy jam for you nu-metal folks. |