Ironclad may have another winner here. Vocalist Tim Zlinksy manages to blend death metal, screamo, hardcore and black metal styles together organically without much change in his own voice. In other words he gets the job done without sounding like 2 or 3 different vocalists. With songs titles like “Death March”, “Amen to Artillery” and “It’s Not About Breaking Hearts, It’s About Breaking Faces” it’s not hard to see where he is and where this is all going. Let’s just say when the going gets tough, the tough get real good. Or vice versa. Whatever.

“From These Eyes” shows exceptional riffing and has a minor key acoustic bridge that really shines. The chops show skill and creativity that bring to mind a little bit of LAMB OF GOD. There is not a single guitar solo here and it’s hard to imagine axeheads Jason Shuping and Brandon Collins not being able to execute them with relative ease considering their exceptionally complex rhythm playing. Their riffs blend well with drummer Tyler Solnosky. Too bad the bass is hardly there. Just when I think I can’t be beaten down to the ground anymore, “Storm of Swords” comes at me like…well a storm of swords. Duh. “Take Aim” closes this thing with a bang the same way it started and pulled through the whole time. So there you have it. THE CLASSIC STRUGGLE may have just put out the classic death metal record of 2005.

- Herring

OFFICIAL SITE: myspace.com/theclassicstruggle

MP3 SOUND SCRAP: Feel Like Hell

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