Emmure, the band who have already shocked audiences with their scowling, punishing lyrics and vocalist Frankie Palmeri's sinister smile, is back with the aurally arresting 2009 record, Felony. The band rips apart their enemies, tears through their anger, and reaches a new height of aggression, desperation and destruction on this, their third full-length album. Leading with the mindset that a Felony on your record can change your life, Emmure is out to make their mark on every listener, violently awakening them to the way the world is around them. Armed with their barrage of menacing breakdowns and punishing riffs, Felony is guaranteed to be the record that locks Emmure behind the bars of the spotlight for life, with no chance of parole.
New Fairfield, CT-based metalcore outfit Emmure's third outing comes fully stocked with enough anger, regret, violence, and deceit to satisfy even the most hard-line nihilist. With titles like "Sunday Bacon," "You Sunk My Battleship," and "R2Deepthroat," one would hope for a few mad cackles of subversive, semi-comedic glee, but that's not the case with Felony. While lyrical cliches run wild ("Beating of my heart serves as a clock/Ticking closer towards my death"), the band's musicality is never in question, offering up punishing riffs and brutal breakdowns like grocery store wine from an overzealous priest at Communion, pausing only to allow lead singer Frank Palmeri the occasional breather from a full-on death metal wail. Felony won't disappoint fans of the first two releases, as it's virtually the same suit of clothes in a different color, and Emmure leave little to the imagination (each member wields a gun in the photo sections of the liner notes), but their streamlined brand of East Coast hardcore, death metal, and punk is as reliable as it is predictable. ~ James Christopher Monger, Rovi
