Right off the bat, Salt Lake City metalcore outfit
Her Candane get a few points for their
Minus the Bear-style goofy song titles: "Chevy Chase Is Good But He's No Bill Murray" and "Everyone in My Band Puked on Me, Even Billy" are particularly memorable. However, the song titles are the most inspired part of this otherwise fairly average slab of post-hardcore. Competently executed but almost entirely lacking in personality, the songs are built on the usual unison riffing, dynamic shifts and sore-throat belting, courtesy of singer Dreu Damian, whose anonymous vocals and impenetrable lyrics could be replaced by any other singer from any other band in this style without incident. There's nothing really wrong with
No Battle (and to be fair, there's one genuinely interesting song, the atmospheric feedback-and-drones instrumental "Shang Tsung Wins!"), yet all but the most indiscriminate metalcore fans are likely to think they've heard it all before. ~ Stewart Mason