Versus the Mirror

Versus the Mirror (2005)

Brian Shultz

It's always good to come out of the gates with a strong effort. Versus the Mirror's first proper release comes in the form of a five-song, self-titled EP on Equal Vision Records, and while not quite stunning or deathly original, there are some admirable details about the band.

Clearly, the Arizona natives are operating under influence from local fellows the Bled, but it's hardly a bad thing, especially since they carry over a similar trait from that band's Pass The Flask effort, or rather, lack thereof that's rather refreshing: no melodic vocals. Most bands of this nature will tend to try it out and fail miserably, making it sound forced or worse, cheesy as all get out. VTM avoid the risk altogether by composing 15 minutes of sheer brutality with impressive riffs and interesting structure, leaving chorus/verse behind for the most part and likely to ellicit a similar "more accessible Converge" moniker barring drastic sound makeovers in the short future. There's a spoken word part in the first song, but that's the closest the band comes to letting up from the intensity, and it shows potential for branching out in this same future.

As these songs are culled from the band's original CD-R demo, the recording quality is funny in a few places. It's overall extremely trebly, and every time vocalist David Siebold screams out his lyrics, it sounds metallic and staticy, almost like a bucket of nails and paper clips are being dumped onto a cookie tin. It's a bit easier to get past it with some equalizer adjustments, but hopefully the production fixes these somewhat minor problems on their next effort.

Versus the Mirror's brand of metalcore here is something that may not be completely unqiue or memorable, but is fairly enjoyable nonetheless, and if nothing else certainly worth a listen just for what it isn't.

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