Internal (EP)

"Quick to listen, slow to speak, slow to anger... IS WHAT I SHOULD BE!"

Thus begins Forthfading's impressive debut EP, Internal. Aptly named, it contains a half-dozen lucid, thematic songs dealing with the internal challenges we all face - hypocrisy, stress, lack of self control, lack of focus, fear of failure, and change.

Two vocalists (both can sing; at least one can also scream, growl and rap), two guitars, bass and drums. Hard. Loud. Musically tight. Sort of like an all-male Evanescence, but louder. Lyrically intelligent. No, I mean really intelligent. I could draw parallels to Carlos Castaneda, scripture, and other things... but I won't.

Track listing:

1. Treading Water & Tasting Victory (2:36)
2. Perfect Imperfection (2:34)
3. Know Where to Run (3:38)
4. Fear (3:21)
5. Push (3:39)
6. Sleeper (3:06)

Fear is a definite 5-star song for me; Treading Water & Tasting Victory, Know Where to Run, and Sleeper are 4-star; Perfect Imperfection and Push are 3-star (the noise is a little thicker than I prefer). Notice the lack of 2-star or 1-star songs? Yeah. No duds. Good songs that all work together.

They claim to be "new rock," but they're not as sophomoric as a lot of bands I think of as being in that category. New rock for smart-but-conflicted people, maybe?

Hmm, maybe that's why I like this so much...