Few Left Standing
Wormwood
Solid State
Whoops! Rather brutal, this one, from a band that keeps one solid fist planted in the brutal hardcore camp and a toe dipped in heavy prog-water. At most times, they come off as a sub-Sick Of It All, all campfire aggression and grinding stomp-a-longs. However, they have that Dream Theater thing going, where they tend to take a walk or two down complex arpeggio-way when you least expect them to. Makes for rather entertaining listening, if not necessarily a better album.
The vocals are all – or mostly – growls and crunches, as you’d expect them to be, which is probably a good thing. However, unless the album’s booklet includes lyrics (my copy doesn’t), the growls completely obscure the fact that Few Left Standing is a Christian hardcore band, of all things. A rather amusing concept, if ever there was one. Having said that, I find it rather hard to judge them either way on the basis of that alone. Had to mention it, though. You know how it is.
Anyway, “Give Credit Where Credit is Due” sounds like Queensryche, which sounds nothing like Sick Of It All, so this is probably for all tastes – or for no tastes at all. Hard to tell the difference. It’s OK, but I can think of a thousand other albums I’d rather recommend to you. If you’re really curious about how a Christian Queensryche playing classic hardcore with John Petrucci arranging might sound, this is the one to get.
Few Left Standing: http://www.fls-online.com
