There are times when I'm overwhelmed, made to feel as though my not inconsiderable (if I do say so myself) knowledge of popular (and not so popular) music is perhaps not nearly as comprehensive or wide-ranging as I thought. So when Portsmouth based Hardcore/Screamo foursome Final Round... Fight! list their influences as Refused, The Fall Of Troy and Underoath, I can't help but feel deeply out of touch. I'm not down with the kids. I'm 35, and stuck in a rut, and when you're in a rut, you've got to get out of it, out of it, out of it...
Taking this release on it's own merits, then, without the sphere of reference in which it was created, I find moody, delicate guitar breaks connecting squalls of rock sound and screaming hardcore vocals.
There's not much let-up, although amidst the barrage of breakneck drumming and larynx destroying vocals, there are a few nice hooks and nicely delivered melody, as can be found on 'Desperate Times Call for Double Measures', and 'I'd Rather Listen to Nothing Than The Radio' - a sentiment I can completely identify with - on which it's revealed that Daniel Callis, Howard John and Gary Trelease, who all contribute to vocal duties, have the voices or angels. Well, almost. Mostly, though, it's a full-on post-hardcore racket, a deluge of overdriven guitars cranked up to eleven providing a grainy backdrop to Callis' howl of anguish.
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Final Round...Fight! on Myspace
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