KDC is one mean band. On their debut LP, the wordy The Veracity of Solitude, the band experiments and merges the sharper, tougher, nastier, shorter genres of punk and metal. While that mix has been done before, KDC keep switching their style so quickly that instead of the combination seeming route, it's an constantly shifting tour through the valleys of vicious music- but most importantly, they don't forget to rock.

The strength of the album lies in the interplay between vocalist Casper and guitarist Juan Carlos. Casper goes for the berserk hardcore shout, but wisely, instead of making his delivery a monosonic mass of a single intonation, he keeps the human end in his voice, at times wavering between Dez Cadena's delivery on the Louie, Louie single and Tom Araya during Slayer's classic period. Meanwhile, as Casper sings, shout, growls, and snaps, Juan Carlos, quite masterfully works his way around the vocalist. Just as Casper backs off, Juan Carlos descends, alternately kicking out wall of sound, d-beat riffs and sinister, twisting metal riffs. The result is a set of songs that bear the strengths of metal and punk, and never succumb to the cheesiness and boneheadiness of either one. Also, it helps that drummer Aaron crushes the drums.

Lyrically, KDC is growing. As is the trend-du-jour for modern hardcore, the band keeps their lyrics ambiguous. On tracks like "Trujillo," Casper describes an abstract scene with "it only took me three years to understand that paper cups shall whether and die," which in this context, could be about anything, but it's certainly about something. That's a skill that Paint It Black has mastered and it seems that KDC isn't far behind. Other tracks, like "Pinkeye" verge dangerously close to cliché, "It's still not over. Let me pretend and pretend for the best." That story has been told a thousand times and doesn't really need to be told again. Still, KDC's highs outweigh their middles (lows would be too vicious because all the lyrics are well written, if not all as original as "Trujillo.)

KDC know that there's still gold left to mine in hardcore and metal and they hit the richest spots. Even moreso, they know how to work those gems into each other, creating a unit more memorable than its individual pieces. This is exciting.