Born early in 2011 from Sydney Australia comes CONVENT GUILT. They have previously released a self-titled demo of 4 tracks. Now they are back with a full-length album titled "Guns for Hire". The album has eight tracks with 36 minutes of listening time. The band states that they have a "force (that) is dark and obscure Heavy Metal, with melody and menace applied with equal force."

The Heavy Metal feel is all over this album. The drums, guitars and bass are great, but the vocals were monotone and lifeless the whole way through the album. It sounds like some sounds changes were trying to emerge, but overall they lacked any depth and feel flat. Much to the opposite of most of the music these guys produce.

While I will stay away from critiquing the vocals any further, I do feel like there is great musicianship. Each person is artfully skilled in their choice of instrument and it is clearly shown in "Guns for Hire". Everything is skillfully performed, but of course there is always room from improvement.

Heavy Metal to me is all about the guitars and CONVENT GUILT gets that. "Guns for Hire" is riddled with wondrous riffs and glorious solos. There is something beautiful coming from the guitars in every track of this album. The guitars are definitely the high point in the album. A few of the best tracks in terms of guitars are "Angles in Black Leather", my favorite on the album track two "Don't Close Your Eyes", and the title track "Guns for Hire".

The bass line is really nice as well. I like being able to hear it clearly in a Heavy Metal album. Track one, "Angles in Black Leather", and track six, "Desert Brat", are great examples of some really good bass work. The under layer of music is important to the overall sound of the track, so having a good base line is incredibly important. While the genre doesn't really focus on this, the best and most memorably music has it.

Last but not least are the drums. They are give and take, but mostly take. For the most part, the drums are on point and nicely done. However, there are a few spots where they seem a bit jumbled and too slow compared to the rest of the music.

Over all, the album is good, but there are areas that need work. For a first album under a smaller label, it's not bad. With great guitars and a wonderful bass line, CONVENT GUILT is almost there.<