Glass Casket - Desperate Man's Diary (2006)

After their debut We Are Gathered Here Today was released through indie imprint Abacus Recordings, North Carolina's insert -core hopefuls Glass Casket stirred up enough praise and buzz through the crowds and core-masquerading-as-metal press that they inevitably drew the attention of Century Media, pretty much the poster child for labels that promise to 'suck for cash', along with their sandbox mates Roadrunner and Metal Blade. The aim here was, like in many cases of a metal or deathcore band, attempting to broaden the sound and capitalize on the momentum of a lacking debut record, and to a small extent, the sophomore Desperate Man's Diary does offer more mood and variation, though ultimately relying on the same tricks that neutered its predecessor.

Desperate Man's Diary opens with a few promising chapters, in the clean ringing guitar tones of the intro "Phenomenon" and the lead-in volley to "Too Scared to Live", which is highly reminiscent of menacing Swedish melodic black metal for the few seconds it takes the band to flub it with a chug. However, this particular chug is not all that bad, and the band explodes back into a thrashing frenzy which spins into brief spurts of melodeath. This is not a good song, by any means, but its already the equal of anything the band created for the debut, and the band strike yet again with "Genesis", a fusion of bouncing tech death and a progressive lead sequence which is one of the high points of this entire record.

Other tracks also show some promise, like the clinical death/thrashing that bursts through "Less Like Human" or the Meshuggah-groove gone tech-death blaze of "The Redeemer". The solid use of bass, the construction of the riffs, the force of the drums to whip the entire fracas into a fisticuffs, and the pleasant fortitude of the lead sequence all make for another half-decent stab at a death metal song, and a lot more of this would undoubtedly see the youngsters' star rising. Sadly, the vocals remain just as indifferent and underwhelming as the band's first record, and even where the band excels beyond expectations, they still fail to deliver anything more compelling than merely competent.

If you enjoyed the debut, then its not a stretch to assume you will also devour this like a hot meal on a starved, winter night, and once again Glass Casket display the propensity for the deathcore act, when pacing itself towards better songwriting techniques, to slowly make moves towards the positive. There are a small handful of riffs and leads here which do dazzle, but they are lost among a crowd of less inspiring rhythms that choke the listener into sleep mode. You can still tear up your local mosh pit to this record, despite its technical death flourishes, there is enough brute violence to pick a few fights to. I'd recommend saving your money, though.

Verdict: Fail [4.5/10] (someone please swing her by her ponytail)

http://www.myspace.com/glasscasket

Glass Casket - We Are Gathered Here Today (2010)

Despite the general disrespect and disregard of the average 'true' metal fan for bands falling under the banners of metalcore or the more modern usage deathcore, there always seem to be a few that slip through the cracks, gaining some modicum of acceptance with even the most jaded, xenophonic circles, and Glass Casket may belong to this cadre of rare exceptions. I've had numerous friends recommend this North Carolina act to me with full disclosure of my dislike for the style in general, and thus I decided it was about time to check them out.

I was not surprised at all to be disappointed with the band's debut We Are Gathered Here Today, but I will agree that they are far less annoying than the majority of their peers. What we have is essentially a band who mixes the earlier groove/metalcore chaos of acts like Coalesce and Burnt by the Sun and injects a slight use of death metal breaks, most of which are frankly far superior to the band's -core output, and one wonders why they couldn't just go all out. Its not that their death material is particularly effective or memorable, but having it constantly broken up by chugging gallops and spastic psycho-core groove rhythms can prove an unwelcome distraction. Vocalist Adam Cody is also no help here, as he's quite typical for the style, mixing up generic US metalcore growls over the myriad breakdown rhythms and elsewhere using a slightly more effective guttural secretion.

As musicians, the band are talented enough, that is until the Earth Crisis open mute chug sequences totally dishevel their impact, as in "And So It Was Said". Take also the track "Fisted and Forgotten", with its lovely title, and witness how the band destroy it in mere seconds, opening with a volley of spastic semi-tech death/grind and then constantly abandoning it for pretty boring chug rhythms. There are moments of promise in "Fearfully and Wonderfully Made", which cycles in booming base lines and winding thrash and old school death rhythms, or 'Scarlet Paint and Gasoline" which summons a slightly Swedish evil 90s At the Gates or melodeath flair to its spastic distractions. I wouldn't dub either of these tracks 'good', but they're a step in the right direction from the pummeling pit execution the band too often lapses into to little or no success. There's nothing about these breakdowns that will get anyone excited unless they subscribe to the lowest common denominator in metal music: that which is made more for the live/mosh experience than permanent impact upon the listener of the album.

Though my time with We Are Gathered Here Today was not well spent, or appreciated, the band at least offers a more authentic passion and delivery than, say, Carnifex on their first few CDs, or the horrendous Bleeding Through. I realize this isn't saying much, but I was far less inclined to hurl this album against the nearest concrete surface than most a Whitechapel effort. I feel like Glass Casket could run with the better Job for a Cowboy material if they went more in a straight death metal direction, and perhaps they will one day pursue this. Until that day, their visage quickly melds against a landscape of other, forgettable acts chasing the same dream to mix their death metal influence with the mosh-core plague that somehow still germinates the youth of this nation, a halter to the evolution of taste: young musicians with potential writing cheap thrills and poetic high schooly melodrama lyrics, highly saturated with symbolism in the vein of Converge and other fundamental early 90s metalcore.

Verdict: Fail [3.5/10] (I can't grit my teeth without you)

http://www.myspace.com/glasscasket