A California metalcore band, Thyne Scabbard, was founded in early 2000's and released only one full length as far as I know.  This debut album laid in my cd collection and has been collecting dust til few days ago and I went through my collection and I decided to give it a listen.  Honestly, I cannot remember if I gave it a listen when I obtained it years ago.

   Musicially, the band is straight up metalcore with some death metal influences.  A lot of people said it has some black metal tones in it but I don't really hear it anywhere with exception for the vocals which is high and raspy but I don't really consider that solely black metal... just a vocal style, nothing more.  The drums is very loud and clear throughout the album.  The biggest disappointment for me is the bass.  For some reason it sounds pretty fuzzy and it's more of a background and supporting the guitars.  I would like to hear the bass player to be more assertive and do some of his own solos.  Guitars is very solid and crisp.  The production is not really consistent but that's to be expected with this being an independent release.  Doesn't really bother that much.. just a note for those audiophiles.

  So far, my favorite tracks are The King of Abandon,  Lies, Lust, and Redemption,  and To Those Who Cursed Me.  Those songs are fast, heavy, and very catchy.  I definitely can see the band's potential to develop their sound with those songs.  However, the album also has some awful songs such as Reaching Out With Broken Fingers, which is boring and sound like it is a combination of two other songs on the album.   I don't like to hear an album where the songs are bit samey and I detect that with this album.  I still have to say it's a pretty solid debut album and I expect the band to progress further with next album if they do plan on it.

Score: 7/10

Labels: death metal, metal, metalcore, review, thyne scabbard