THE MAKAI

California's THE MAKAI fit well with the Seventh Rule aesthetic in that "The End of All You Know" is noisy, guitar-heavy, and cranked up to the maximum. The band blends thrash and extreme metal, Swedish-influenced melodic death, and a good bit of chaotic hardcore. And for the most part, the band succeeds in doing so.

It did take me several listens to find out what bothered me about "The End of All You Know" though, as all of the elements of an impressive effort are here. The pace is relentless, the songwriting is solid, and the arrangements are written in a way that keeps each song from sounding like the next one. What I've decided is that Brandon Squyres' nerve-fraying scream vocals kept distracting me from the otherwise explosive tunes. As much as I can appreciate the guy's piss-and-vinegar delivery, his approach grates on my nerves. It makes me wonder how much more I would appreciate the compositions without said distraction. I'd not be surprised if others were fine with it though, so chalk it up to one man's opinion and find your own enjoyment in it.

Squyres' vocals aside, THE MAKAI excels at injecting its tunes with a controlled chaos that makes it seems as though the entire affair may fall apart at any moment. The furious pacing, rip-roaring riffs, and teeth-rattling drumming of Jessee Shreibman provide the listener with a range of styles and all-around cool musical segments. The album is not devoid of tunefulness either, as the melodic guitar lines and song structures in general can be rather alluring.

Don't get me wrong though, this is no genre-confused metalcore act. Rather, the group's abrasive mixture simply sounds like a band that has drawn influence from many different types of bands. The frequent use of mid-range death growls (presumably, courtesy of guitarist/vocalist Zeke Rogers) work well too, especially considering that they provide a reprieve from Squyres' nails-on-chalkboard delivery.

Overall, there is an intelligence and penchant for keeping things interesting on "The End of All You Know" — to some extent like the manner in which MASTODON composes its thunderous metal — that should bode well for future releases. I'd rate this one a 7 or 7.5 had it not been for my issues with the vocals, as they affected my enjoyment of the disc to such an extent that future listens are unlikely. As such, a 6 seems more appropriate.