Evergreen Terrace / xOne Fifthx
“Split”
(Indianola Records)
Well, it’s Evergreen Terrace, so you know how it sounds: absolutely pummeling breakdowns, killer screams from Andrew Carey, and guitars that bleed their way through each ferocious verse. And that’s just the first song. Evergreen Terrace contributes four original tunes to this split, each capable of knocking the average kindergartener upon his or her ass. “Blue Eyes, Black Heart” encompasses just what makes the fivesome so revered in the metalcore realm, as their incredibly raw sound spits heavy beats over churning riffs without ever stopping for air.
xOne Fifthx, on the other hand, rely on a more traditional, start-stop method of madness, including one of the more strangled screams in the business, this one belonging to Floridian Lars Lundquist. While the song structure may be more basic than that belonging to Evergreen Terrace, xOne Fifthx still manage to package maximum intensity into each of their four cuts. However, xOne Fifthx (as you might have guessed from their superfluous use of the letter “X”) are a straight-edge band, meaning they suffer from a terminal lack of humor, as they focus on the edge and not a whole lot else. Still, their efforts are greatly appreciated and Indianola has got itself a winner.
