SMASH YOUR ENEMIES is a Hardcore band from Detroit, Michigan.   You can probably already guess what they sound like: non stop break downs, high octane songs, and raged fueled vocals.  That sounds like the recipe for a great album but that isn't the case here.  Although this album isn't bad per say, there just isn't anything that blows me away.  The songs are too short to really go anywhere—I understand that is some of the appeal to Hardcore but I call things like I see them, or in this case, hear.  All six songs sound basically the same-probably the byproduct of them being so short as they don't have time to do anything new.

The band does contain two vocalist but they don't sound too different from each other, and neither are amazing enough to warrant the need for the other—either of these guys could probably handle all the vocals and nothing would really change. The first track, "Murder City Kings," is really just an intro but it does its job with ramping up the album's energy so early on.  "Driven By Hate," is centered around gang vocals and throaty screams boosted by early KILLSWITCH ENGAGE and HATEBREED style riffs played on a loop.  This is necessarily a bad thing but it also isn't a good sign when monotony rears its ugly head in less than three minutes after an album begins.

The title track, "Become Death," opens with some throbbing bass but it is drowned out by the riffs and vocals-I found both are too loud in the mix but the fast, crisp drumming save the song.  Again, there isn't any standout details or features of the songs that gives me the need to having talk about the rest of the album.  These guys are probably genuine tough guys, having grown up in one of the biggest crap holes in America but unfortunately attitude only gets you so far when it comes to music.

In the world of Hardcore, I'm not sure if a six track album that has under fifteen minutes of music is normal for an EP but regardless the songs rage across the album rather quickly.  Ultimately, SMASH YOUR ENEMIES' "Become Death," is a furious assault on the ears and a fun listen but I require more depth to my music. In essence, this album burns hard but runs out of fuel quickly and lacks any layers to warrant repeated listens.