Hands

Considering the teeming masses of bands struggling to leave their mark in both genres these days, it was unavoidable that post-metal and metalcore would eventually be combined in a fairly direct, 50/50-ish fashion. The question is: is it worth listening to? That depends on how much God-fearing, heavy-handed lyrical content and outright derivative elements you can stomach. But that said, Creator is a solid record. Combining the more ethereal moments of Misery Signals with the ambitious, lengthy songwriting of Isis, Hands are definitely onto something, although time will no doubt hone the less developed elements of their approach into a more polished product. Kudos must be given for the array of vocal styles attempted, not all of which work to their advantage. While Hands have a fairly clear idea of what they want to do with their sound, something in the execution is lacking. If they focused slightly more on forging their identity, as opposed to adequately aping the groups that came before them, progressing into a stronger act may be in the cards. In the meantime, if you ever wondered what a respectably performed combination of Misery Signals and Isis would sound like, well, look no further.