Starkweather - This Sheltering Night

Starkweather - This Sheltering Night
I remember hearing the Starkweather track 'Shroud' in the mid '90s and being blown away. They were one of the bands who pioneered metalcore, but it was other bands like Converge, Endeavor and Coalesce which made the scene so exciting. None of the other tracks grabbed my attention in the same way. The first track here, Epiphany, continues this trend. It's instantly familiar, a slow and brooding track which builds in intensity but ultimately fails to deliver a satisfactory pay off, although midway through there some nice jazzy flourishes. This makes it interesting rather than exciting.

Rennie Resmini's distinctive, atonal vocals will divide opinion but I personally think they add an injection of character which would otherwise be lacking.

Stylistically, this is slow and grinding metal, reminiscent of Overcast although they're nowhere near as good. One of the main problems here is that the pace is generally too slow so it can be rather boring. When the tempo picks up a little, such as the beginning of Bustvari, it makes a big difference as it becomes less of a dirge. One Among Vermin is a highpoint as it has some great melodic leads and climaxes in a wonderfully chaotic fashion. The soundscape interludes provided by additional artists, including Oktopus from Dalek, add very little.

This isn't disappointing because this band have always disappointed me and, consequently, my expectations have been lowered somewhat. It is nowhere near good enough, however, to inspire me to change my opinion of them.