It seems that practically every other band have opted for screaming on their latest releases and sadly Down Within are no different. However it’s very hard to pull off effectively and at times this five piece straddle a fine line between hitting the mark and completely missing it altogether – as a result “The Heist Begins Here” is a mixed bag.
It opens in fairly unspectacular style in truth as “Ten Questions” is pretty standard hardcore but without any hooks or exciting vocal melodies – which reminds me of a very watered down Funeral For A Friend album filler. Opening tracks should grab a listener and entice them into listening for longer, and sadly this track doesn’t do so with me and neither does second effort “Sepia Tone”. This could be because the band wasted perfectly good opportunities to highlight their vocal abilities by choosing to scream undecipherable lyrics over quite catchy metal riffs. I have no real problem with the use of hearty screams on a record, but the miss-use of them is something I can’t tolerate and Down Within are guilty of over stepping that mark on a few occasions.
While it may seem like I’m about to bash this record into the ground it picks up well and “Bleak to broken dreams” has an epic sound and the correct use of vocal ability. This is then followed by a very mysterious and instrumental “And the empire will end” which sets the tone for a more aggressive and fast paced track such as “One Army”. It’s quite a turn around for such a young band and although the dreaded screams return in the final two tracks, the energy has picked up by this point and it’s easier to live with.
“The Heist Begins Here” is held together by some excellent themed artwork, which depicts a raid on a financial institution and comes complete with a map and a crime report – and essentially this has swayed my review. While you should never judge a book by its cover, and similarly you can’t take one look at a CDs artwork and make your mind up, it can heavily influence your opinion of a record and Down Within have managed to do that here. This has a strong second half and with an average age of 18 this band could well be something to look out for in the future.
Tom