Battle Cries and Broken Promises is chock full of hungry metalcore, with stinging dual guitars, crispy, sharp drumming, and the toothy, coherent vocals of Kent Young. Sounding a bit like Chad Gilbert era SHAI HULUD or EVERY TIME I DIE’s Keith Buckley, Young is a very capable vocalist who can scream his threat red, but still nail every syllable. The jumbo rhythm section doesn’t particularly do anything that falls out of the ordinary among its current metalcore contemporaries, but the recording quality is incredibly robust, and the band doesn’t sound like it has a weak bone in its collective construction. A bass-bomb on the fourth track, “The Laughter of a Lonely Gas Station Attendant” is an unexpected treat on first listen, and a high-point on every subsequent listen. CAPITAL TRAGEDY also display a decent amount of melody in the guitars, not unlike SKYCAMEFALLING or BLOOD HAS BEEN SHED, and this has the pleasurable effect of taking away some attention from the menacing breakdowns. The fifth track, “Cold Heart Fly West,” is CAPITAL TRAGEDY’s songwriting opus, with multiple twists and turns, including a nifty spoken word part, that although somewhat cliche, rings with a heartfelt demeanor. You’ve likely heard everything CAPITAL TRAGEDY does before, but even so, Battle Cries and Broken Promises is still a very riveting release.

Goodbye Blue Skies

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