Rough Edge: One Dead Three Wounded CD Reviews

ONE DEAD THREE WOUNDED

"Paint the Town" (1X1 Music; 2006)

On "Paint the Town," One Dead Three Wounded (is that a great band name or what?) combine hardcore with modern metal, without becoming mere metalcore, and wind up with a crushing CD that pulverizes the genres of heavy music, picks up the pieces and puts them back together in an all-new package.

For the most part, the music on "Paint the Town" cascades down upon the listener like a flurry of stones raining from the sky. It's a shattering, seemingly endless assault that manages to maintain a sense of ... well, melody is too nice a word. How about recognizable rhythm?

Track number six, "Welcome Home Tragedy," is a surprise, a simple, slower instrumental that's more about atmosphere than anything else, especially when leading into the machine gun guitars and anguished vocals of "Thank God for Painkillers." For the most part, however, "Paint the Town" is a collection of aggressive, driving rock'n'roll, especially when the band puts the pedal to the metal on tracks such as "Farewell," "My Life as a Typo" and the opener, "Failed Transmission," with its dulled razor guitar intro and its runaway train verses ("I can taste the fear in your lips. Can you taste mine?!").

Speaking of lyrics, the band's are stunningly mature and sharply insightful. Take, for example, the lyrics to "Regret": "God damn these frightened, frigid hands and all our long forgotten plans. Clocks lie. We have not time at all." Pretty heavy stuff for a young band.

As with most bands in this genre, the vocal style proves to be a bit one-dimensional. It doesn't diminish the effectiveness of "Paint the Town" but it does become a little tiresome after twelve tracks and thirty-six minutes. Fans of hardcore and metalcore won't mind at all. Others might need a little getting used to it. That's okay, though, because "Paint the Town" is worth the effort.

One Dead Three Wounded: Tim Zahodski - vocals; Mike Zahodski - drums; Jason Willmot - guitar; Bob Kat - bass; Jim Fox - guitar.

For more information, check out www.onedeadthreewounded.com.

Rating Guide:

A classic. This record will kick your ass.

Killer. Not a classic but it will rock your world.

So-so. You've heard better.

Pretty bad. Might make a nice coaster.

Self explanatory. Just the sight of the cover makes you wanna hurl.

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