The Great American Beast

Better known under former moniker the Red Affair, verbosely titled outfit the Great American Beast are pretty much the animal one would expect from six dudes belting out Southern-influenced hardcore from Dayton, OH. On Domestic Blood that means vocals doing a lot of screamo referencing over duelling guitar lines and swaggering bridges, all of this then combating expedient, feisty verses. The comparisons sound off-putting, but as we delve deeper into Domestic Blood, it works surprising well. Songs switch in and out of various tempos and passages readily, and the band maintain an overall ability to spin decidedly catchy, twang-fuelled guitar melodies. Unfortunately, they do devolve into predictable contrary throat-tearing and clean/whiny vocals, sounding counterintuitive to their goal of revitalizing both hardcore and down-home boogie rock. Used by everyone from Alexisonfire to, well, put a "core" after any band of the past half-decade's primary sound and that says it all. Regardless, while Domestic Blood is an album that may falter due to lack of ingenuity, it makes up for its limitations thanks to an undeniably sincere and passionate delivery.