From Tennessee hails Across Five Aprils, one of Victory Records' more recent signings who have just released their debut for the label titled Life Underwater. This is fairly generic sounding melodic hardcore, never getting too extreme or delving too far into radio friendly territory. So, what sets Across Five Aprils apart from all the bazillion other bands treading similar waters? Well, not much I'm afraid. From the often times distracting vocals of Brandon Mullins, to the 'been there heard that' riffs, to the hooks that aren't quite catchy enough, Life Underwater just never really seems to cross over into something that becomes memorable or overly enjoyable. The closest the band gets to a winning formula here is "This Means Not Welcome", a fairly standard metalcore number in exection but one that has a really good chorus where Mullins uses his clean vocal attack perfectly. His main problem is that his growls and shouts have little if any variance, and sound forced. If I was Across Five Aprils, I'd make sure that next time around Mullins unitilizes his clean vocals more, and leaves his annoying Rage Against the Machine-meets-metalcore shouts at home. Musically, there are smatterings of cool ideas floating around Life Underwater, yet the band doesn't seem to have hit that point yet where they are creating material that is going to distinguish them from the rest of the pack just yet.
Track Listing
1. The Darkest Of Roads
2. Faith Shaped Pills
3. Life Underwater
4. This Means Not Welcome
5. I Am The Polar Bear
6. Dreamers Disease
7. In Photographs
8. Snape Kills Dumbledore
9. Naivety Scene
10. Pray For Rain
11. My Sins Stacked To Heaven
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