Forensics

After a strong three-song EP introducing this band of "ex-members of” (Page 99, Corn of Macabre, Burning Airlines) as a promising force to watch, they’ve quickly followed it up with a full-length that exceeds those expectations. Things To Do When You Should Be Dead Anyway takes the not altogether congruent influences of their EP and works at both expanding them and making the melding more seamless. While still sometimes sounding a little too much like their influences, Forensics take Sabbath-ian doom and mix it with vaguely Southern rock, the trance-like stillness and destructive motion of vintage Isis and Neurosis, and the metallic sludge of the Melvins. Some tracks, such as "Did You See What God Just Did To Us, Man?” or "As Long As There’s No Flipper Babies,” feature a more rock slant, while others hew closer to the ebb and flow of the aforementioned musical forces of nature, Isis and Neurosis. And there’s even a passing resemblance to label-mates Majority Rule, at times. A new weapon in singer/guitarist Brent Eyestone’s arsenal is some sporadic clean singing, which works well in the context of the crashing heaviness and languid sonic explorations, and more space is given to the musical peaks and valleys. With time, Forensics will achieve the renown of their influences.