ONE DEAD THREE WOUNDED

Originally released on Lovelost Records in 2004, "Paint the Town" by Philadelphia's ONE DEAD THREE WOUNDED sees a re-release on 1x1 Records with two new bonus tracks. Why re-release it so soon? Apparently, the band wasn't pleased with the debut album's level of distribution and according to vocalist Tim Zahodski, "we really wanted this record to be heard". Fair enough. But what you really want to know is whether "Paint the Town" is — to borrow a phrase from LOU REED — worth much more than infected yeast. Sure it is. The music is basically solid, if very familiar, metalcore that works best when the band mixes in its semi-sludgy southern groove parts.

With a concrete-tough sound mix that gives a jagged edge to the riffing and a thunderous drum attack, songs like "Cowboys Don't Look Back" and "Ghosts" and are two of the better of examples of how well the boys incorporate the aforementioned bloody-knuckle grooves. The Swedish influence is heard as well (big surprise, right?),which is at times reminiscent of DARKEST HOUR. The Swedecore stylistic bits are evident on songs like "Burning Bridges is so 1999…" (including the album's most notable gang shouts),and even more so on "Thank God for Painkillers", "Eight Dollar Prom Dress" and "Farewell", the latter two featuring single and twin melodic leads. Moody instrumental "Welcome Home Tragedy" is nicely done as well. I actually prefer the songs from the original release to the two new ones ("Cardia" and "Soldiers"),although both work just fine.

So in the end, "Paint the Town" won't you have screaming from the rooftops. It is an album that works fairly well, but you've heard much of it before. That said, the attitudinal vibe and southern cooking bodes well for future releases. Find some MP3s and check it before you make a purchase decision.