Personnel: Shai Hulud, Matthew Lee Fletcher, Matthew Ian Fox, Anthony Nicholas Tintari, Geert Van Der Velde, Steven Lee Kleisath.
Recorded in 2002.
Shai Hulud have always taken their actual music more seriously than most of their peers, and their second full-length captures them at their most musically focused, angry, and passionate. Progenitors of the metalcore sound, Shai Hulud wouldn't work so well, and be so popular, if they weren't just as obsessive about instrumental intricacy--precisely timed breakdowns, meticulous time signature shifts--as they are about the rage, alienation, and confusion of which they sing. Tracks like "Given Flight By Demon's Wings" and "Two and Twenty Misfortunes" dazzle with the endless twists and turns of guitar and rhythm section interplay, while Geert van der Velde's delivery of founding member Matt Fox's lyrics keeps the emotional intensity level at a constantly heightened pitch.
Professional Reviews
CMJ (5/19/03, p.28) - "...Displaying an internal chemistry among its members that's wound tighter than a drum, this album walks around with a confident metalcore posture, issuing breakdowns that will cause hemorrhaging, while infusing smart, distorted harmonics into the mix at the same time..."
