Band : Confined Within
Album Title : Ashes Of A Fallen Kingdom
Label : Rising Records
Distributor : Gordeon Music Promotion & Management
Release date : 27/05/2011
Release : CD

Ooh...not a lot I can tell you about this Stafford (UK) based (Stafford is situated roughly 35 km from Birmingham in a NNW direction) Metalcore band, because only little info is available, but here's what I found out.

The band was founded in Summer 2007 with the intent to bring some necessary new vitality to the bled-dry and milked-out MetalCore genre. As far as I know, singer Tom Ashton, guitarist Jay Kay, guitarist/ second singer Matt Munro, bassist Joe Mayer, and drummer Ben Tatlock were already its members. They started playing the Midlands live circuit, building up a small fanbase, and released their debut EP The World Stops Turning (recorded at Philia Studios in August 2009 and issued through Brutal Elite Records – home for the likes of Allerjen, Fell On Black Days, ISOR, Quarterblind, and a couple of others)  in May 2010. Although the EP didn't garner the band a lot of attention from the media, it díd get 'em to fortify their local following, and play support slots with the likes of Skindred, Dead By April, Trigger the Bloodshed, Fel Comodo, and Bled From Within. Evidently this díd get the band into the “tabloids”, and CW capitalized on that by signing to Rising Records before entering the studio at the end of 2010 to record their debut album Ashes Of A Fallen Kingdom.

The result is quite flabbergasting! Having re-made 3 songs (“An Underlying Past”, ”Beginnings”, and “When The World Stops Turning”) off their EP, the guys composed 7 more songs plus two short instrumentals (the album opening acoustic “Intro” which blends seamlessly into opening song “We The Kings” and the somewhat ethereal “Lullaby” which just like “Intro” gets added keyboard – in the case of the latter with “wind” sounds – & cello additions). Expect the guitarist to blast away in a progressive way wit nice alternating of riffs and lead guitar play. Expect quite a bit of clean (occasionally growled) vocals, backed by emotive screamed ones (occasionally taking the lead). In other words, here's a band capable of standing its own on any US stage...or has the Metalcore genre become a swearword over there too? Personally, I like what's on offer here, and how yoù might react to the songs posted at either the band's facebook or MySpace page (5 different ones divided over the two, with one off the EP) is of little difference to me. CW plan to “tour” in support for the album throughout the year, but I'm afraid that at the moment the band has nothing confirmed outside the UK yet! You lucky “Brits”!

92/100

Tony.