Time in Malta

Time In Malta's 1999 Construct and Demolish EP for Escape Artist Records was one of the most promising combinations of emo, punk, hardcore and metal to never be followed-up on, until now. True, the Identify. Persist. Transcend. seven-inch appeared not long after, and whose "Dissolve" reappears here as a standout track, but it seemed that Time In Malta would never resurface from its myriad problems. Line-up changes, touring problems, label changes, rotating members (including a brief stint with ex-Burn It Down front-man Ryan Downey) by all rights should have decimated the act. And yet none of this seems to have affected Time In Malta's seamless ability to transcend the simple combination of harsh and mellow to create a moving and anthemic synthesis. If anything, A Second Engine is an even more effortless and affecting demonstration of Time In Malta's abilities, representing a range of emotions, melodies and more developed songwriting and a harsher heaviness only alluded to previously. And while they can still sound a little too similar to Snapcase when they fully lose themselves in their rage (not necessarily a bad thing), tracks such as the aforementioned "Dissolve," "This Revolution" and "This Is Our Voice" show Time In Malta have returned, no worse for wear and in fact, quite a bit better.