[4/5] Twelve Tribes tend to overstate their hardcore status and undervalue the metal content of Midwest Pandemic, which weighs in around 87 percent, with your basic hesher signifiers including 1) an obligatory anti-TV preacher rant ("Televangelist," the best song Every Time I Die forgot to put on Hot Damn!), 2) a mysterious Latin song title that conveniently doubles as an anti-depressant reference ("Librium"), and 3) an alternately spooky and uplifting piano-laced instrumental intro to a three-part, nine-minute song ("The Recovery (In Three Parts)"). The hardcore aspect of this metalcore riff-o-rama manifests as erratic time signatures, and the Dayton quintet graze post-hardcore when a violent approximation of melody bursts through the gut of album opener "National Amnesia." Like that title, the band's lyrics usually aren't much more than striking images, but "Blood and arsenic/Our syndicate on the cross/Condemned to be saved/Our fear has turned on us" makes the point with style. (FERRET) D.X. Ferris
 Official Website: http://www.ferretstyle.com
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