EMPEROR OF MYSELF released their third full-length album, "Built In Distrust" in 2015. This was a really, really tough review. On one hand, the band sounds good, the instrumentation is great even if it is a little generic. The album has pretty standard Rock and Punk riffs that are excruciatingly generic, but they pull it off well enough. On the other hand, well, the singer is horrible. He sounds like Greg Graffin from BAD RELIGION with a serious head-cold after a six story fall onto his head. The screaming parts are a quick relief, they are actually really great and seem to jump in just as the "melodic" vocals become too much to listen to.

There seems to be no love put into this album, it's emotionally shallow and depressingly dry. One thing that bugged me about this album is the editing. The track "Comfort" in the hurt has one editing flaw that really bugged me. There is a beautiful instrumental bridge that occurs at about 2:20. The bridge has no fade out, the bridge sounds like it was meant to be longer or at least have an ending but chorus jumps in without warning in the most abrasive, jarring way possible. The same careless editing is apparent during the intro of "Never Said Goodbye".  Now, I'm not one to judge a band by looking at them but these guys look like they have more experience in club music and smooth jazz than metal.

EMPEROR OF MYSELF has some real potential though, they are talented musicians and the album has some cool moments. For example, the songs "Forever Down" and "Never Said Goodbye" kick some decent ass, but the rest of the time it seems like these guys are just churning out whatever they think will sell, they just don't get it. It's like watching a dog with mange struggle down the road, you know that if it gets cleaned up and the help it needs you will be rewarded, but it's probably just best to let it die and end its suffering.