The guitar interplay between Mike Warren and and Steve Pruett on this stunning debut is quite impressive. It’s hard to believe two such chops galore individuals take almost no solos. Their colorful bouncy riffs keep drummer Tommy Crooks on the go at all times. It appears that bassist Joseph Fontenot is sort of keeping up with the whole affair but it’s hard to tell with the bass so low in the mix. This group’s arrangements pack quite a bit of complex punch in its get-to-the point (i.e.: short) compositions. Vocalist Joe Ortiz keeps it simple with the stock hardcore style, which best suits these tunes even when things get melodic. Thankfully his voice does not clutter up the music the way a lot of these screamo frontguys do. It’s also nice that there is no second singer doing all the cheesy melodic stuff, which is really a huge turn off in the Death Metal Dougman camp (i.e.: AVENGE SEVENFOLD, QUELL, and FEAR BEFORE THE MARCH OF FLAMES come to mind). I am kind of glad there is no lyric sheet in the promo CD, because the song titles here look almost as stupid as BIOHAZARD’s but not quite. Unlike those Brooklyn bozos, Ortiz’s words are not nearly as easy to decipher. If HONKY is the future of Texas rawk, then these fellows may be the future of metal in the Lone Star State.

- Herring

OFFICIAL SITE: myspace.com/jacknife

MP3 SOUND SCRAP: Unbreakable

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