My Shining One / Son Of The Mourning split mcd

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"Engineer Records has engineered one of the better split EPs of the year, bridging older and newer schools of metal.New Brunswick, N.J.'s My Shining One operate in the former school of thought. Featuring former members of Nora, Ensign, et al., My Shining One utilize an abundance of melody to appease older fans, but are modernly heavy enough for younger listeners to latch onto. Guitarists Chris Byrnes and John Stanley crank out fat-necked and cocky riffs through three songs, the rhythm section of bassist Andy Koniecko and drummer Crumbs provides a thumping foundation and Rob O'Neil articulates relatively clean vocals with a demonic edge.They give their sound a more contemporary twist on third track "The Last Lawn in Somerville," as speed and bass-drum breakdowns incite Byrnes and Stanley to descend their instruments through corkscrew turns.Manchester, England's Son of the Mourning, by contrast, come from the new class of sound and style where chaos and inconstancy are your friends. Their three contributions are loaded with dizzying tempo shifts played as close to reckless without losing control as possible.There's a fair amount of staccato fury on "The Reimus Code," but also plenty of chilly noodling that keeps you on your heels, knowing something's going to hit the fan. The calm, piccolo opening to "Memento" similarly dwells more on atmosphere than how fast they can play. This lead-in to the song's slower body doesn't mask the catastrophic doom the band achieve, however.Mostly hidden within Son of the Mourning's ramshackle output are the decidedly non-gruesome and/or morbid lyrics almost customary in the genre. They encourage a lovesick someone to move on in "Memento." At the end of "The Reimus Code," they emphasize, "Remember what you have got / And don't regret what you have lost / There isn't time to live the past / So live each day as if it's your last."This split EP, if anything, is a swift reminder of metal's roots and where it's now going. Wonder what's next?" - Wade Coggeshall