From a Second Story Window's first EP, "Not One Word Has Been Omitted" satiates the basest of testosterone-induced musical needs to the same extent as a knuckle-bludgeoning fistfight.
Listening to it requires less cleanup too.
The thrash/metalcore group from the nearby corners of Ohio and Pennsylvania ("Ohiovania," as they refer to it on their Web Site,) has made a consistently engaging EP in a genre that is known to hold interest only briefly.
The first track, "The Challenge of Caring" has a 30-second intro of frantic, unhinged drumming, clashing guitar chords and screams of "Fear the sky." Once it falls into a time signature, the music barely changes. Intermittent pauses between breakdowns keep the listener leaning to hear the next couple seconds of sheer fury, barely contained.
While the guitar parts alone do not impress, they compliment the band's strong point: its rhythm section. It takes a cohesive act to use similarly dissonant chords, double-drum breaks and vocals that only utilize two screamed pitches, approximately six octaves apart.
They hold interest by switching time signatures every few bars going back and forth between a dozen or so riffs per song. This is common in metalcore, but the difference is that every FASSW riff is as pleasurable and interesting as the last. They even throw in emo-influenced undistorted interludes to give the listener a chance to breathe.
FASSW is a rhythm-minded metal act, and they let the listener in on the secret. Each song features a couple seconds of breakdown that stand out from the rest of the song because it guitars and bass drop to their thickest strings and singer Sean Vandegrift busts out doom-vocals at a depth that would make both Vin Diesel and Barry White envious.
It is difficult to name a best track on "Not One Word..." because the entire album is a highpoint. However, if threatened with under-the-toenail bamboo shoot insertion, "In a River Where You Least Expect It There Will Be Fish" is a safe bet, as it has the best opening, breakdown and interlude.
This album comes recommended to fans of On Broken Wings, Isis and label-mates Founddeadhanging.
Photo: Courtesy of Matthew Messina, from the RMBERS' Instagram page
