Sometimes getting the wrong vocalist can make a band trip at the first hurdle. Sydney based Metalcore troupe WAR RAGES WITHIN are a classic example. Like so many of their contemporaries, they (used to) have a singer who alternated between both Cookie Monster barks and sweet melodic highs. But the trouble is, he didn't handle either particularly well.

Of the two styles frontman Chris G plays with, his cleans are probably the better, but they don't really match the music he's crooning over. He's like a cross between Burton C. Bell and The Sesame Street Count, but he seems to be singing along to a different band and comes across as overly robotic and monotonous. His screams on the other hand just aren't very impressive at all. His strangulated cries are desperate, forced and frustratingly weak. He's uncomfortably reminiscent of overhearing your fourteen year old neighbour doing a Corey Taylor impression with no prior training.

What makes this more annoying is that "Vitriol" is otherwise pretty good. The guitar work especially is top notch: six-stringer Ziad Beydoun fills these five tracks with all manner of pounding riffs and squealing histrionics. With the exception of the over-long "Against All Odds," the songs are also pretty solid Metalcore ragers but without any ham-fisted breakdowns to spoil the mood. It's all fast, upbeat and energetic and manages to avoid a lot of the clichés usually associated with this genre.

As much as they threaten to impress though, WAR RAGES WITHIN just can't rise above the weaknesses of their vocalist. Since recording this however their line-up has changed, a new guitarist and singer currently share the vocal duties and it remains to be seen if they can improve their lot. For now though, this is dangerously reminiscent of that incredibly awkward video from a few years back where a brave but misguided teenager did a SILVERSTEIN cover on American Idol.