CD Review: A Killer’s Confession – “Unbroken” (EMP Label Group)
With former Mushroomhead frontman Waylon Reavis at the
helm and Richard Easterling (American
Head Charge) behind the mixing board, you might think you have A Killer’s
Confession and their debut release Unbroken
pegged, but you wouldn’t be entirely correct. While Reavis and company put to
wax many of the things you’d expect (“Awakening” plays like a demented haunted
house anthem, or something a serial killer would play before he makes you his next
victim, “Spawn of 7” is fueled by jilted staccato riffs and sludgy industrial
tones, which spill over onto the menacing, Brian Welch-assisted “A Killer’s
Confession,” sonic juggernaut “I Will Define” gets back to powerhouse old
school heavy metal riffing thanks to an appearance by Dead By Wednesday), Unbroken takes chances, not all of which
pan out. The album shines when it focuses on straight up melodic metal ala In
Flames (“Rebirth,” “Final Breath”), but for as good as the first portion of Unbroken is, it fades down the stretch.
While not entirely a swing-and-miss, “Sympathy,” a high-arching and airy ballad
that features Kimberly Freeman of One Eyed Doll, seems strangely out of place, “Judas
Kiss,” an ill-fated foray into electro-metal featuring Revillusion, sounds like
a poor man’s Celldweller and “Letting Go,” with Amerakin Overdose, is a jumbled
mess of noisy synth. Thankfully, the closing “Purification” (with HEX) is a fun
Rammstein-esque romp. Unbroken may be
a few tracks too long, but it’s mostly good.
Go Download: “Rebirth”
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