Killing The Dream - Fractures

Earlier this year a band by the name of Killing The Dream released their second full-length album 'Fractures' on Deathwish Inc. 'Fractures' was the highly anticipated follow up to their critically acclaimed full-length debut, 'In Place Apart' also on Deathwish Inc which was released 3 years previously in 2005. That is quite a break between albums, especially for a hardcore band, but Killing The Dream yet again put out a highly polished, punishingly beautiful hardcore record that fans of the band certaintly expected.

Most simply, Killing The Dream's style of hardcore could be easily pigeonholed as melodic hardcore, but they are definitely more than that. They are melodic hardcore, but they do not really sound like many other bands in that same blend of music. It is definitely more raw sounding, heavier, more punishing than most bands of this taste while still holding the melodic edge. 'In Place Apart' fit the melodic hardcore niche much more than 'Fractures' does, in the 3 years since, they have definitely progressed to a newer sound.

The album starts out deceivingly slow with the opening little guitar medly in '(Re)acquaintance' but it immedietly explodes into 'Part II (Motel Art)' where the album takes off at break neck speed and doesn't slow down until the very end. All of the tracks on this album exceed on the quality scale and never get repetitive sounding, I think there are some parts that may take some getting used to, but after you do it just makes sense, I remember feeling this sentiment when I first heard this record, but I can't even recall those parts now after having listened to this record so many times.

Songs that are standouts include 'Thirty Four Seconds' (which has replaced 'We're All Dead Ends' as their live closer), 'Part II (Motel Art)', 'You're All Welcome' (featuring Rob Sullivan of Ruiner) and 'Hang The Jury', but as I said before, everything on this record is quality. If you like anything that you've heard from this record, I'm sure that you'll enjoy all of it.

Closing, 'Fractures' is probably one of the best records of 2008 as far as hardcore is concerned. It is angry, ferocious and beautiful all at the same time. I definitely recommend it, and seeing the band live, as they are a great group to see.

Killing The Dream on MySpace
Deathwish Inc.
Killing The Dream : Deathwish Inc. Estore