New Fairfield, CT-based metalcore outfit
Emmure's third outing comes fully stocked with enough anger, regret, violence, and deceit to satisfy even the most hard-line nihilist. With titles like "Sunday Bacon," "You Sunk My Battleship," and "R2Deepthroat," one would hope for a few mad cackles of subversive, semi-comedic glee, but that's not the case with Felony. While lyrical clichés run wild ("Beating of my heart serves as a clock/Ticking closer towards my death"), the band's musicality is never in question, offering up punishing riffs and brutal breakdowns like grocery store wine from an overzealous priest at Communion, pausing only to allow lead singer Frank Palmeri the occasional breather from a full-on death metal wail. Felony won't disappoint fans of the first two releases, as it's virtually the same suit of clothes in a different color, and
Emmure leave little to the imagination (each member wields a gun in the photo sections of the liner notes), but their streamlined brand of East Coast hardcore, death metal, and punk is as reliable as it is predictable. ~ James Christopher Monger