The Swan King- Eyes Like Knives

The Swan King, who've just signed to Seventh Rule recently, released Eyes Like Knives just a few days ago, and my interests were immediately peaked- post-hardcore mixed with traditional metal? What? The members (including Jamie Drier, previous bassist of Planes Mistaken for Stars) are from Chicago, and have already gotten quite a bit of attention for this album.

First off, the Test Tone at the beginning makes me giggle. But starting with the actual music... "Good Deeds" impresses me right off the bat with it's technicality- real riffs and hardcore don't mix too terribly often- but that's where the metal part of it comes in. It's very catchy, shows that they have talent, and still has an edge to it. "Cloaked Into The Facade" continues the same sound they've had, but then they have this awesome sound to it that reminds me a lot of a rougher, more modern thrash... I know, this means nothing to you punks... but whatever. These guys are fun. "Peace Love Murder" is a reverb heavy, angry sounding song. It's a little less technical than the first two. "Dead Man's Shadow" (similar to groundhog's day, maybe?), "Entertain the King," and "Staring Through Skulls" are the next three songs, and just as enjoyable- they keep the pace and energy up the whole album. "Invisible Hands" is my favorite track on the album. What a fucking great guitar line, seriously. I love the intro.... and well, the rest of it. We finish off the album with "Eyes Like Knives", and it closed off everything nicely with a great solo... Great job, my little musicians, great job.

These boys set off a strong style at the beginning. My only negative comment is they stuck to that sound so hard the whole album,  that the album lacked diversity in their songs. I'd like to see them experiment a bit more with the sound, but it was still a great record and I can't wait for the opportunity to see them live. Hell yeah, Swan King.

Download here- make sure to pay lots for their album... It's a name your own price, so downloading helps the band, but 20 dollars helps them more... ;)

-Bear