Thrash metal, a sort of lovechild of punk of the olden 80s days and the original style of the progenitors of metal. Despite having its heyday back in the 80s with what was arguably the height of METALLICA, thrash metal bands are still alive and kicking. Enter today's FACE DOWN HERO and their newest release False Evidence Appearing Real, containing 9 full length tracks of simple yet kickass guitar riffs sprinkled with hints of melody commonly found in the original "New Wave of British Heavy Metal". Certain to find a home in the hearts and headphones of fans of bands such as METALLICA, MEGADEATH, LED ZEPPLIN, and many more without further ado let us dive right in.

The album opens with "Nation Fractured", almost sounding more akin to a melodic death metal track in some regards as it opens quite melodically. It quickly delves into a more traditional sound, with complementary punk esque vocals. However, while its riffs are not bad it is nothing special or unique. It is a rather standard thrash sound, but admittedly it feels as if there are few audio components that make up the song, meaning that it sounds stale and repetitive. What sound we are given is not bad, but it is not creative and as well is repetitive. "The Newborn Me" experiences this problem less so, especially in terms of staying largely far more unique sounding throughout. My main fault with the song, which is a general criticism, is a sort of blandness in the riffs of the verses, in that the riff is about 3 or 4 seconds and just repeats itself. A series of 3 or 4 chords and only that quickly feels repetitive and causes the song to lose the interest of its listeners, however I will cut slack in that there is only 1 guitarist who is also the vocalist so having a lead and rhythm guitar is a luxury the band does not have. One major redeeming factor of the song is the shredding guitar solo, though if I am blunt I mean this literally and not as a compliment. Older school in sound yet still effective, one can only really fault the brevity of the solo.

When one begins "Peddlers of Fear", it is hard to not instantly compare the initial opening of it with many METALLICA riffs, and this only becomes more evident as the song goes on. At times it almost sounds as if it is James Hetfield on the mic and not Christian Naumann, and everything from the overall tone and riffs to the drum beat is highly and almost uncannily reminiscent of the thrash giant. Even many of the phrases and terms used in the lyrics sound as if they could have come straight from an unreleased METALLICA demo. However, though it dangerously treads the line of sounding like a rip off it manages to sound like its own song through use of other riffs implemented that have a much brighter tone, sounding as if they would be from a power metal band, of which this is especially true in the solo (which is one of the best, if not the best on the album). This song is undoubtedly my favorite and I believe of everything on the album this track is the one that should be heard above all.

Finally the album closes with the closest thing to a namesake in form of the track "When a Promise Becomes a Lie". It has fancy riffs and passages again, yet it falls back into a sort of rut that makes it hard to focus on the track. Like previous tracks on the album, it feels incomplete for lack of a better word. Perhaps it is a sort of odd progression and general flow of tone, but unlike the others it feels more unique. It is an odd sensation to describe, and perhaps it is because it sounds so much like other thrash bands or even other songs on this album before, yet no matter how many times I try to listen to this track I never finish feeling as if I listened to a whole song.

It is here I must end. Overall, the band is certainly not bad and the album is pretty good. However, it is nothing great nor unique. There are certainly fancy solos and pleasant riffs throughout, yet barring a song here and there the album feels incomplete. I recommend this to any hardcore thrash fan, but beyond that it will be a hit or miss track for most.