letlive.
The Blackest Beautiful
Epitaph Records
Street: 07.09
letlive. = The Dillinger Escape Plan + Refused
Starting on a great note with the awful production quality and muddy vocals on “Banshee (Ghost Fame),” right away this is a painful album to struggle through. A little bit Lostprophets after a lobotomy, a little bit The Used on an off day, a little bit bad wannabe early 2000s rap metal, every song on this album is a mess of grinding gears that never find a way to fit together. The vocals aren’t that bad when Jason Butler isn’t trying to rap, occasionally sounding vaguely Glassjaw-esque, and the rest of the band is solid despite being generic as hell. But wait, did I mention the awful, incredibly muddy production quality yet? It makes it all sound even worse, taking all the bite out of already terrible songs, and the last thing I need is a pair of putrid gums gnawing on my headphones. If this is the future of post-hardcore, count me out. –Matt Brunk