Dead Hearts – S/T / 2005 State of Mind / 8 Tracks / http://www.deadhearts.net / http://www.stateofmindrecordings.com / Reviewed 22 January 2006

Dead Hearts create a mixture of hardcore and rock that really makes the band sound similar to a lot of the Nordic metal off the late nineties, with a sound that has more than a little hint of acts like Refused and The Hellacopters especially during “In Our Hands, Once Again”. “Small Town Tragedy” is an example of a track that is not really dictated by the instrumentation of the band, but by the raw fury of the lead vocals on the track. However, this is not to denigrate the instrumentation present on the track, as other guitars come up with a shrill line that would be perfect in any Slayer track.

In fact, “Breakdown” is the perfect mixture of vocals and instrumentation, especially rare in a period where one or the other dominates over the space of a track. The guitars that are dominant during “Small Town Tragedy” will get individuals dancing, throwing in a minor amount of rockabilly into what is a very determined and furious mixture. At fifteen minutes, this is a fairly long effort by a hardcore act on State of Mind; this “lengthy” album does not let up, its relentless attack as violent on “In Our Hands” as it is on “Bright Lights, Burnt City”. In a sense, Dead Hearts really have a Raised Fist type of sound to them; there are few acts currently out on the market that have such an authoritative sound on an EP. By fusing together rock and more traditional themes in hardcore, Dead Hearts really make a new sound that will appeal to fans of both genres.

In doing this, the band really shields themselves from sounding similar to all of the other hardcore bands that do not incorporate anything else besides hardcore influences. “Bright Lights, Burnt City” is not as much of winding-down track as it is a bridge between this EP and the upcoming LP; I’m assuming whenever the new disc comes out that it will be more of this same hybrid sound. The simplistic guitars that are present on “Bright Lights, Burnt City” are really another nice development for the band, as they almost take an earlier Misfits sound to heart and put it into a contemporary context. Dead Hearts are a band that has a tremendous amount of talent, and by speaking in such a confident tone on this EP, will have accumulated enough in the way of fans to make their new LP a commercial as well as an influential disc.

Top Track: In Our Hands, Once Again

Rating: 6.5/10

[JMcQ]