Reviews:

This is a very dense record. It's hardcore, but there's nothing simple here - there's a whole lot of tempo changes, guitar leads and melodies, and sonic experimentation. In general, lots of good ideas, but maybe a little overdone. Perhaps I could borrow a metaphor from Fugazi: listening to this is like taking medicine - it's good for you, but you might not enjoy it too much. There's a sense of despair in the music, and the lyrics are very cynical. The anger and emotion is there, I just think it kind of gets lost in the complexity of the songs. It's definitely not as catchy as their other records (although I'm sure that's not what they were aiming for...). I like "Everyman for Himself" a lot - a slower, melodic song that hints at the direction of their final album.
-CHRIS