October 15, 2009 | | 3.5

The Perennial, Dissension

The Perennial: Dissension

We reviewed The Perennial‘s last EP The Disparagement Of Indifference and were pretty impressed with what the band had to offer. This time around, their latest EP, Dissension makes good on the promise they showed a year ago by adding more power and aggression to the mix.

The band continues to embrace a metalcore base, but have gone out of their way to crank up their ferocious delivery with churning, textured riffs, rumbling bass and devastating drum work. Vocally, the gruff delivery is exactly what you would expect for the style, yet feels so much more powerful than your standard metalcore scream.

I liked the band’s first EP, but I’m loving this second one! Still can’t wait to get a full length out of these guys.

Bastard Business
“Bastard Business” gets us going with thundering drums, squealing reverb and crushing riffs. The vocals are gruff, confrontation and pissed the fuck off. I’m digging the guitar work around the one minute mark which is quickly followed by some seriously burly riffs. There are more tempo shifts and moshing riffs in this short song than you’ll know what to do with, yet the hole thing is a concise and focused package.

Jeremiad
Rollicking drums and aggressive hardcore screams get this one underway with a great bass tone. The riffing throughout this song is textured perfectly and hits heavily across the back of the neck like a lead pipe. The layered vocals are a great touch on this one and help keep the song fresh and lively. I bet these guys gets some serious pit action when they play. Have I told you yet how much I love the bass throughout this EP? Well, I do.

The Course Of A Coward
Man, the ending to that last track was dense and ferocious. “The Course of a Coward” is just as thick, but embraces a hardcore beat down mentality and delivery it with a left hook across the side of your head like nobody’s business. Goddam, this song is beastly. The dense textures and furious delivery really make this EP a killer helping of bruising metalcore. The slow down around 2:20 allows you to catch your breathe momentarily before the band jumps back into the fray with some massive riffs to end out the EP.

~ ~ ~

Additional Notes:
Download the EP for free at the band’s myspace page