With bands like Bane and Comeback Kid enjoying the popularity of, dare I say, “contemporary” hardcore, it would seem difficult to stay afloat. With Fractures, their second full length on Deathwish, Killing the Dream has shown that they can not only produce another decent record, but can up the ante from their previous releases, even in the face of losing two of their original members.
On Fractures, they have definitely set themselves apart from other modern youth crew style bands, the album is speckled with atonal guitar melodies and crushing riffs, while still keeping with the snare-driven tempos, as shown in “Thirty Four Seconds.“ They continue to bring something new to the table throughout this record, the production is a little less polished, but it’s no accident, and the muddiness at certain points adds a nice contrast with the clean, arpeggiated guitar work under the verses in the title track and “13 steps” While managing to make the record melodic, there are still the absolutely crushing, stand-out epic tracks “Everything but Everything” and “Resolution” that make Fractures a modern hardcore success.
-Studwell
