Sons of the Crow

While not as hard-hitting and in your face as their previous EP The Hunting, Cantharone's Sons of the Crow is still a fun listen. Their unique mixture of progressive, groove, and sludge provides a fresh look into the realm of opportunity within metal. Though they have not garnered much attention, Cantharone is certainly a group of talented and impressive musicians.

I recognize that this type of metal is not for everyone, but I personally enjoy it; I find the unorthodox genre-blending somewhat intriguing. The music is mostly driven by the instrumental factors, as the vocal delivery is actually rather weak. Everything else makes up for that, though. It sounds heavy, and not in an artificial or overprocessed way. Very few metal bands nowadays can claim the same.

The riffs are progressive yet drowned in thick distortion, and the drums match the guitars quite well. Again, the vocal delivery isn't this band's strong suit; the band was trying out a different vocalist, who is rather inconsistent. The styles range from barking to a weird Mastodon-like whine, as heard in "Ashore Alone."

I think Sons of the Crow is a solid release, though it has a few flaws. The songs are solid, but overall an increase in production and a change in vocalist would benefit the band greatly. It's definitely worth a listen, though.