Illuminated Muffins

No Bragging Rights are no strangers to the melodic hardcore/metalcore scene. With several releases under their belts, NBR have developed quite a following, and they deserve every single fan. Their music manages to be heavy and catchy without sacrificing their sound at all.

Illuminator is the southern California quintet's third full length record, and they definitely know what they're doing with their music. With the perfect blend of melody, hardcore, and metal, NBR has a great sound.

"Beautiful And Spineless" shows you exactly what to expect on this album: intricate, driving guitars, crushing drums, and Perez's flawless switches from screams to clean vocals. Track number two, "6th & Main" takes things more from the metal side of their sound, while "Weeding Out The Weak" opts to focus a little more on the hardcore side of things, though both feature the refreshing singing voice of Perez. NBR decides to change course and do a 180 degree flip soundwise, as the fourth track, "Cease Fire", gives us a blues-infused instrumental interlude. However, they get right back on the hardcore train and go to town with the title track.

"Empire: Decay" switches back to the metalcore side of things for the start, but changes gears back to the melodic hardcore before too long, and then flips back over to their breed of metalcore. With a slow, muffled build, "The Prospect" is there to kick your teeth in, hardcore style, before you realize what's happened. "Blind Faith" lets the guitar play around with a simple little riff that leads nicely into a breakdown before the expert guitar work we've come to expect from NBR takes over for the verse. Track nine gives us an intro that almost sounds like something Oh, Sleeper would do that leads into it's metalcore-tastic goodness. "And They Threatened Us With Fire" punches you in the chest with gang vocal growls that lead nicely into the verse and chorus. The album closer, "Death Of An Era", combines the complex guitar work of the metalcore sound with the lightning speed of hardcore to give this album a perfect finish.

Illuminator was only released yesterday, and already I've listened to it at least four or five times straight through. It combines the heaviness of metalcore, the speed of hardcore, and the catchiness of pop-punk for an absolutely brilliant release. Do yourself a favor and pick this album up. You won't regret it.