He Who Has Muffins

I know it's been a while, but you can stop worrying. I'm not dead. Yet.

Now that the Apocalypse Death Blizzard is upon us, I figured you fine individuals could use some metal to listen to, as you probably won't be leaving your houses for quite some time.

Day Of Vengeance probably slipped under most of your radars, as it almost avoided mine as well. This five-piece Christian metalcore act out of Florida deserves far more publicity than it gets. Such is the price of being signed to a smaller label like Red Cord Records. Don't let their lack of fame fool you, though. Day Of Vengeance is here to stay.

He Who Has Ears kicks off heavy with the oddly titled "Horseback Riding In Arabia", a guitar driven crusher with some solid screams courtesy of Ben Greene. What really caught me off guard were the clean vocals and, specifically, how well they work with the screams and music. They don't feel out of place even a little bit. Continuing the melodic metalcore trend, "Call Me Disaster" follows similar footsteps to the opener. The third track, "He Who Has Ears" gives us a little southern swing on the intro before flowing smoothly into the metalcore sound DOV does so well. However, the chorus has an almost pop-rock feel to it, which contrasts nicely with the brutality of the verses.

Greene's screams welcome us to the next song "Let Him Hear" and really push this song along, which doesn't happen often, and is done this well even more infrequently. "Taklimakan" gives us the heaviest introduction on the album with a trudging, pummeling, absolutely chest-crushingly combination of guitars and drums before switching to a poppy/post-hardcore riff that leads into a metal-infused verse. "I'm Used To Melee Combat" keeps the contrast of melody and brutality alive as Greene's growls and Josiah Hughes' singing voice compliment each other nicely. With a slow build, "Go Back To Thailand" lets the guitars and drums really have some fun before Greene comes into the picture. "Jeremiah's Beard" and "Show Us Your Mercy" keep the heavy coming before the album comes to a close with "How Sweet The Sound". They start this closer off with the same crushing metal as they've used throughout the rest of the album. About a minute or so in, though, they switch over to a much softer sound than anything we've heard so far. This was Hughes' chance to really shine, and shine he does. After that little interlude, Greene comes back and the metal follows with him. The soft, melodious chorus makes another appearance and slowly builds back up for a heavy rendition of "Amazing Grace" forming the final minutes of this song.

Overall, Day Of Vengeance may not have brought anything new to the table, but they refined it to a point of excellence. That's what makes He Who Has Ears more than worth your time.