Fourth album for the Connecticut bruisers, and a textbook case: a single aggregated review (Distorted Sound, 7/10), but a won-over public at 79/100 across 550-plus ratings, and specialist webzines in raptures — Metal Epidemic goes all the way to 5/5 and « an easy contender for album of the year ».
On substance, nobody argues: Matt McDougal’s grief and rage run right through the record. Distorted Sound puts it nicely: « every line is spat with venom, shrieked in mourning, or growled in anger », noting that « four albums in and they don’t even seem close to running out of good songwriting ideas ». The guests land right — The Plot In You, and Make Them Suffer on a duet everyone remembers — and « Malconscience » or « Crowned and Crucified » hit exactly where they should.
The only real debate is technical: Distorted Sound guns down Drew Fulk’s mix, « far too compressed for its own good », flat drums, smothered riffs — while Metal Epidemic sees no problem at all. What remains is a heavy, sincere metalcore record whose songs rescue its production. 7, with the conviction that the live versions will bury the studio ones.