GYRE is an interesting band comes from the New York/New Jersey area. They define themselves as a progressive metal band, with a tendency to groove and thrash. Even though they sound like a mixture of genres it's almost impossible to verify, in a first listen it's impossible to miss those groovy influences. Their latest EP released on May 12^th, is blurry an unclear, yet it sounds like something worth listening at least twice to.

The first song, "Manifest", opens the EP with some uncompromising guitars and drums, while giving the listener no longer then five seconds to regroup before the singer sends us to the familiar world of groove in his vocals. The song gets an interesting twist with some clean, soft vocals. Combining those two together, I felt like listening to the band SLIPKNOT in their best, almost non-electronic days. From this song on, the EP continues pretty much in a similar way.

"Behind Blue Eyes" has probably the most interesting riff and beginning of all the songs in the EP. The verses has the same sound as some alternative bands in their heavier days, but the small guitar solos sounds a little bit closer to some melodic death bands in their lighter days. In the middle of the song there's a short melodic guitar solo, the best in the entire EP, in my opinion.

The clearest thing that comes from this EP is that those guys came to do what they love, even if they are not quite sure what that is. I get the feeling they need a bit more polishing, but all in all, this product is OK. The quality is not the best, and yet they somehow managed to keep me interested all through the EP. I do believe there's more to look for, and I would keep an eye out for the new comings.