From Bandcamp, “SOUR TIMES” can be described as intense, melodic, powerful, fierce and melancholy. Ben Reigle, Joe Izayea, Chris Matthews have crafted a band that reflects our time. They scream of a raw, unbridled honest, sober-eyed look at the state of humanity today.” The new album has five songs. “People Over Profit” is first. It begins with spoken word and soon comes the chaos. For me, it sounds like classic Hardcore, especially considering the vocals, but it is not without some melodies. It’s a pretty straightforward sound though without any frills.

“40ft. Noose” is a minute-and-a-half of rocket fuel burning at high volume and melting anything in its path.  The title track has some of the melancholy tones that the band was talking about. At this point in the album however, the shouted, cadenced vocals are wearing thin on me. They just don’t offer much beyond anger. Anger is a useful emotion, but when it is the only one, there isn’t much in the way of diversity. “Sickness” is a slow and dissonant song still with plenty of anger, but there are also some moments of despair. Like the song title, the sound is very depressing, very “sick.” The short “No Victors” closes the album. It’s an angry ride that just doesn’t last very long. I hate to be so critical, but I have a hard time finding the proper audience for a band like this. Besides the obvious moving the listener on a physical level, there has to be more to music than this. I’m not talking high brow Progressive music necessarily, but this is Metal at its most basic level.