Metalcore, despite its blistering volume, machine gun efficiency, and trachea-shredding vocal style, can get old pretty fast. Guelph, Ontario's
Arise and Ruin know the danger of listener fatigue and keep each cut on their impressive debut about as epic as a haiku. With the longest track (album highlight "End of the Road") clocking in at 3:35, The Final Dawn never wears out its welcome, and a refreshing lyrical bent that leans more toward self-help punk-metal than the standard death and decapitation that populate the majority of the genre's slash-and-burn offerings keeps things from spiraling into parody. Fans of
Killswitch Engage who find themselves skipping over the more modern-rock-sounding tracks in favor of the shredders will find a lot to love here, as evidenced by brutal, head-kicking cuts like "To the Grind," "Bound by Blood," and "Fear Itself" -- even a non-"machine gun" track like "Pale Horse" runs itself through the proverbial meat grinder. To be fair, it's still metalcore, or whatever the world calls it today, and is still subject the same melodic limitations that can be real problematic for some metal fans, but overall
Arise and Ruin are as competent and talented an act as many of the bands that call themselves originators. ~ James Christopher Monger