Emmure - The Complete Guide To Needlework EP

When I first heard Emmure back at a show in Revere with The Acacia Strain, the sound was incredibly heavy, one of the heaviest of the night, and I truly wished that any recordings they had would have that same effect. As my computer loaded The Complete Guide To Needlework EP, it brought me back to my waiting at the show for the initial song to kick in. What was waiting for me was unlike any traditional hardcore band’s brutality that I had previously witnessed, and the same came with the EP that was played before me.

The album opens up with the sound of kids playing, airplanes, and then the thunderous crash of one of the heaviest introductions I have ever heard literally in my life. The explosion of a vehement cannon seems to be the only logical explanation for Second Hand Smoke, a true Carbomb of the Emmure album. Johnny Carson Didn’t Have To Die breaks right into the solid core of Emmure’s brutal performance. Throaty, gutteral screams reminiscent of From A Second Story Window are combined with some of the heaviest sounds I have heard since The Acacia Strain. Emmure is incredibly heavy at breakdowns, almost to the point where when each one hits, the power makes my floor vibrate and shake with the buzz of bass and double-bass pedals wailing violently.

Looking A Gifthorse In The Mouth starts off slowly but moves into a brutal breakdown with bloody vocals of Bury Your Dead, The Acacia Strain, and From A Second Story Window all mixed into one batch. Occasionally during the song, the vocalist says a line with no screaming but just talking, giving a very eerie, creepy sound to the part. “And you are the memory….” Immediately after, it would cut into a high-pitched scream that digs deep in the chest into a low growl before regurgitating into another high-pitched sequence.

The pace is picked up quite a bit with I Should Have Called Ms. Cleo, which features the quick, brutal beats of traditional hardcore meshed with high-pitched guitar squeals that turn into brutally massive explosions of breakdowns. Emmure seems to feed off of the power of the breakdown, and the beautiful recording and mastering of the album captures such power perfectly. Such recording also perfectly captures the band’s live performance, which is a definite strong point that most bands cannot say who aren’t incredibly big. The recording is amplified even more with a masterful 22 Exits Away, which demonstrates some of the clean-vocals parts with that yet again eerie sound of no screaming from Emmure.

To close off the EP, my favorite track A Fist Fight With Dick Tracy comes to end in brutality and power as well as it opened with it. The two-stepping verse with low, growly vocals that hit as hard as the thundering drums behind it really sets up for a brutally fast breakdown. As the song progresses, the most powerful element I feel is when the high-pitched guitar lines turn into the largest explosion Emmure has yet to set off in a breakdown. The EP closes off with this heavy breakdown that fades out with the intensity it came in with.

I cannot believe Emmure is not signed. With an EP like this, they deserve to get a lot more attention than they are getting. The incredibly heavy-hitting verses and breakdowns with brutal vocals and incredible guitar riffs and everything complete this EP with plenty of verocious attitude. Emmure’s The Complete Guide To Needlework should be in your CD player if you are a fan of heavy-hitting hardcore and metal.

TRACK LIST:
01. Second Hand Smoke
02. Johnny Carson Didn’t Have To Die
03. Looking A Gifthorse In The Mouth
04. I Should Have Called Ms. Cleo
05. 22 Exits Away
06. A Fist Fight With Dick Tracy

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