Band : Kill ‘Em Dead Cowboy
Album title : Darkened Dreams
Label : Casket – Copro
Distributor : PHD – Bertus
Release date : 19/10/2009
Release : (5-track) EP-CD

Based in the South English coastal town Portsmouth, this Melodic Metal/ Metalcore quintet now consisting of singer Sam “Mugzie” Salkeld, guitarists Barney Thomas & James Cutting (the latter adding backing vocals to his duty roster), bassist/ backing singer Alex “Smack” Finnemore, and drummer Olie Cutting formed in the Autumn of 2008 under a different line-up.

With influences from the likes of Killswitch Engage, Bury Your Dead, and All That Remains (to which their sound has been likened), but also Unearth, Between The Buried And Me, Caliban, 36 Crazyfists, Chimaira, Soilwork, As I Lay Dying, Terror, Pantera, Metallica, In Fames, Architects, Biohazard, Machine Head, and several others…the band started writing its first material and threw itself on the South English club circuit (even throughout the many line-up changes), where they were greated with warm welcomings. Having pondered on which route to follow best, the band decided to record a first EP with production by themselves (in their home studio, as far as I can gather), and signed a deal with Casket/ Copro for its distribution.

The EP contains a very nice (but rather short) Melodic Metal intro, and 4 hybrid Melodic Metal/ Metalcore songs of which only the closing track “The Sirens Scream Assault” escapes from having a short clean vocal passage. As mentioned in the biography we got from Copro, the band’s wide influences “…come together to mix crushing breakdowns and melody together iin perfect harmony…”. The bio goes on to say “…creating a very unique sound, and different style…”, and there’s a statement I don’t agree with! Nay, not indeed, because when you put two and two together, KEDC have only their rather excellent songwritership going for them in a genre which is currently saturated to the global point! Granted, on a local level…and you might even expand that to the whole of Southern England, why not…this band may work themselves up to favourites in the scene, but they’ll need the backing of one of the major players in the music business (record label wize) to break out of the UK. No danger of these youngsters supplanting any of their named influences though!

Still, for people who’re into this kind of music, KEDC are definitely a band to check out, so if you, dear reader, feel yourself falling into that category (or are simply looking for an expansion of your musical tastes and searching for young worthwile upcoming bands) dó…by all means…check out the (3) songs (including the EP closing track) the band posted at myspace.com/killemdeadcowboy. The underneath rating is devoid of any feeling about the fact that the Melodic Metal/ Metalcore genre has, over the past couple of years, become part of the “mainstream” in Heavy Music…and we all know that Heavy Music itself has become rather popular the world over, right?

88/100

Tony.