Dryline hails from Dallas, Texas, and are the next band to throw themselves into the metalcore pot. Actually, they've been around since 1999, but Reach For the Surface is their debut release. I'm not going to say that these guys are going to set the world on fire with their mix of metal and hardcore. In fact, if you dig bands like As I Lay Dying, It Dies Today, Chimaira, Unearth, Trivium, Bleeding Through, Killswitch Engage, Shadow's Fall, and other bands of this ilk, who combine blistering thrash metal guitars with a mix of screaming hardcore and clean melodic vocals, then Dryline are sure to be your cup of tea. However, there's nothing here than can by any means lay claim to being original. Sure, the band fires off some intricate and pummeling riffs on "Breathing Water" as well as "Choke On the Air", and lay down some deft acoustic magic on "Needless To Say", but for the most part the 12 tracks all tend to sound the same after a while. Where things really work for them is on the crafty "Touch For Sore Hands", where they do their best Gothenburg impression much like In Flames or At the Gates, complete with intricate guitar harmonies and brutal screams.
Basically, this is serviceable metalcore, but lacking in that extra edge to make you want to go back to it more than a few times.
Track Listing
1. Last Day To Forget
2. Cast For Your Heart
3. Choke On The Air
4. First And Ten
5. Screaming Because He's On Fire
6. Breathing Water
7. Needless To Say
8. Touch For Sore Hands
9. We Have Until Tomorrow
10. Lipstick Scratches, Paper Rocks
11. Upon This Blade
12. In An Age Of Roses
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