Sauce

The sophomore effort from the melodic metalcore band is a vicious mixture of eruptions and restrained moments, and the two are balanced perfectly. The strong and hoarse vocal style of T.J. Miller fits just as well as the more dominant clean vocals. The clean vocals fit well in tracks like Sleepless Nights Alone and Undesired Reunion, whereas the more aggressive vocals in The Wax Walls Of An Empty Room and Avalanche show another side of the band that would give your speakers a hernia.

To some people, SR may come across as an emo hard rock band, but they don’t display all the characteristics of this genre. The music is dealing with life’s real aspects, covering topics from finding yourself to losing the things that were once parts of you. This album is mature, and shows the band’s personality through both music and lyrics. You will hear a lot of keyboard and piano incorporated in to their metal sound, giving a Euro-metal feeling which can sound similar to that of bands like In Flames or Children of Bodom.

Still Remains are one of those bands that, in my mind, will outlive the three-album life expectancy of most bands, and will have an ongoing legion of fans. The band definitely has their influences, and has managed to combine both their inspirations and their own sound to make one of the top metal albums for 2007.

DAVID WALKER