Meh
I've said it before but there's something about the Welsh metal scene: it's a seemingly endless conveyor of generic–core bands. This time we're running the rule over Amongst Carrion and from that name on down through the artwork, band set-up and sadly the songs they neatly fit into the lineage of superficial, out of the packet metal bands.
Mechanical kick drum rattles on constantly throughout We That Should Not Be creating a unavoidable monotony which when taken in the wider context of juxtaposed palm muted riffs and melodic delay drenched lead guitar lines and screamed/growled vocals makes for predictable listening. The influences are clear and readily alluded to on We That Should Not Be, Lamb of God on the thrashing verses and Killswitch Engage when the chorus arrives. "You're the fucking reason I feel this way!" singer Josh "AJ" Lewis mules on the female baiting Painted Red over a leftover Fear Factory riff circa Digimortal. Really now, is there any need for that? There are a few more riffs, some different textures on The Fear in Her Eyes but not enough to elevate this disc from the merely serviceable.
Put simply this bastardized style of metal is all played out, no-one is calling out for another metalcore band in 2012 and, despite a strong finish with the more nuanced Snowblind on this EP, Amongst Carrion are not going to be the band that changes that perception.