RUNESCARRED is a progressive metal band that rose out of the ashes of Austin, Texas legends DEAD EARTH POLITICS. This is their debut ep entitled "We Are". "A Darker Man" starts off with some nice acoustic guitars and in its atmosphere does remind of some of the darker tracks of PANTERA. It has an absolutely crunching and powerful riff that rivals the heaviness of ZERO HOUR. The vocals of Ven Scott are very clear and show a lot of emotion even when it has a bit of raspy side to them. While being very different, the vocals do have a Matthew Barlow side to them. Everything sounds great, the guitar solos, the drums, just a great start to the EP.

"This is Mine" uses more of a power metal / IRON MAIDEN approach with a barrage of melodies and a more up-tempo beat. It shows off a great deal of energy, here the vocals are a bit closer to MANTICORA's Lars F. Larsen. If you want a good heart-racer, this is the one for you. A shout out to a great chorus and some added rougher/death-like back vocals. "Ghost Oceans" starts off with some intriguing progressive guitar/drum parts, here I can see a resemblance to heyday of MASTODON. The vocals once again do justice to the all the variant musical sequences found here.

Overall, I have to say that this is one of the strongest debut efforts I have heard in a long time. It should appeal to fans of bands like QUIET ROOM, ICED EARTH and ZERO HOUR. Definitely check these guys out !