CLIFTON

We Never Change

Abacus
rating icon 6.5 / 10

Track listing:

01. Triple Belly O Poo
02. Promisha
03. Table Full of Giggles
04. Walter's Look of Conviction
05. Sir Interruptsalot
06. Your Hands Smell Like a Bad Attitude
07. Feels Like Guts
08. We Never Change
09. And Then I Touched His Freddy Krueger
10. Hangin with Nature


You have got to give at least some credit to Salt Lake City's CLIFTON for mixing some fairly gripping southern sludge grooves in with its standard Swedish-influenced metalcore. It is not quite enough to raise the metalcore bar, but the songs on "We Never Change" possess just enough variety, passionate performances and musical talent to at least make it worth checking out if you're a fan of the genre.

All the standard American metalcore elements are here, though it is not as breakdown-ridden as some albums by the band's brethren. The twin guitar work of Mark Wursten and Carl Ball can be rather exciting at times, the duo playing off each well and kicking out some tasty harmonies. Solos abound as well, often working successfully to raise a song out of its standard arrangement, the solo on "Triple Belly O Poo" one of several notables for causing one to pay attention. Along with Bryan Edwards' predictable, though workable, scruffy mid-range bark, the majority of the album's songs are of the up-tempo, Swedecore variety, "Table Full of Giggles", "Sir Interruptsalot", and "Promisha", a few such examples, ridiculous titles notwithstanding. It is when the group breaks into sludgy southern breakdowns on "Walter's Look of Conviction" with its cool harmonica part, "And Then I Touched His Freddy Krueger", and part of "Your Hands Smell Like a Bad Attitude" that the group shows the potential to separate itself from the metalcore hordes. The odd man out here is the acoustic and moody instrumental title track, not because it sucks, but because every other group seems to feel the need to toss in one of these numbers.

Those notables aside though, what you get with "We Never Change" is little more than a solid metalcore album that will not make you a fan of the genre if you are not already one. You've heard better albums, but you've also heard much worse. Those of you not already drowning in a sea of metalcore will fine little here that isn't at least moderately satisfying.

Author:
  • facebook
  • twitter
  • reddit
  • email

Comments Disclaimer And Information

BLABBERMOUTH.NET uses the Facebook Comments plugin to let people comment on content on the site using their Facebook account. The comments reside on Facebook servers and are not stored on BLABBERMOUTH.NET. To comment on a BLABBERMOUTH.NET story or review, you must be logged in to an active personal account on Facebook. Once you're logged in, you will be able to comment. User comments or postings do not reflect the viewpoint of BLABBERMOUTH.NET and BLABBERMOUTH.NET does not endorse, or guarantee the accuracy of, any user comment. To report spam or any abusive, obscene, defamatory, racist, homophobic or threatening comments, or anything that may violate any applicable laws, use the "Report to Facebook" and "Mark as spam" links that appear next to the comments themselves. To do so, click the downward arrow on the top-right corner of the Facebook comment (the arrow is invisible until you roll over it) and select the appropriate action. You can also send an e-mail to blabbermouthinbox(@)gmail.com with pertinent details. BLABBERMOUTH.NET reserves the right to "hide" comments that may be considered offensive, illegal or inappropriate and to "ban" users that violate the site's Terms Of Service. Hidden comments will still appear to the user and to the user's Facebook friends. If a new comment is published from a "banned" user or contains a blacklisted word, this comment will automatically have limited visibility (the "banned" user's comments will only be visible to the user and the user's Facebook friends).