Strength Through Vengeance

Based on the band photo, the cover art, and the press materials ("bruising musical attack," "sheer rage," etc.) you wouldn't necessarily expect A Perfect Murder's second album to depart noticeably from the post-hardcore cookie-cutter routine. And indeed, the departures are subtle, but they're significant enough to make this Montreal-based band worth a second hearing. For one thing, Kevin Randel's vocals are guttural and tuneless, but he generally steers clear of that whole dyspeptic-Cookie Monster effect that everyone's so tired of. Second, Carl Bouchard's guitar solos are technically adept but not flashy or long-winded, a welcome change from the metalcore mainstream. Lyrically, the song titles tell you exactly what to expect: "Black Hate Machine," "Wake Up and Die," "Slay the Masses" -- you get the picture. But again, there are subtle elements of the arrangements that will take you by surprise, like the rollicking triple meter of "Snake Eyes" and what sounds shockingly like a sung melody in the chorus, or the unfortunately rather plodding instrumental "Time Changes Nothing." This isn't a world-changing album, but it's always good news when a band working in this genre can catch your attention by pushing the formal boundaries a bit.