Index Case Review
by Dan Upton
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Index Case's bio goes on about how "in a time where most metal/hard rock acts seem to all spawn from the same melting pot," they're a band able to claim their own identity. Not that that really means anything on its own, as there have been plenty of bands that have claimed to be something special and promptly vanished into the sea of clones. They've shared the stage with plenty of these bands they could be accused of copying, acts such as POD, Disturbed, Adema, Static-X, Stone Sour, and Nonpoint; the question of course is whether they actually have any distinguishing characteristics or if it's just good marketing copy.Incidentally, neither of the bands I would compare them to are on that list. My biggest impression of Index Case is that of somewhere between 10 Years and Mudvayne-lite. The opening bass riff and some of the vocal stylings on the opening track "Listen" are particularly reminiscent of recent Mudvayne; some of the breakdowns are too, even to the point of trying to pull off the syncopations and funny rhythms, although not as adventurous as some of Mudvayne's stuff. Likewise, there are a few riffs with the syncopated rhythms that remind me of Fony. On the other hand, there a some more atmospheric passages and melodic work, on songs like "Silent Side of You" and "Fetish," that pull in the 10 Years comparisons. The mixture of clean and rough vocals is there too, including a few places where they're layered so that rather than doing an actual harmony there's one track singing the line melodically and another track barking it out. The truth of the matter is that Index Case is somewhere in the middle of their peers, enough differentiation to keep their heads above the water, but I can't see them being on the front lines with bands like Disturbed and Mudvayne trying to morph nu-/alt-metal stylings enough to keep them relevant. Perhaps the worst thing about the CD though is that while I liked all of the songs at first, I'm finding that after 4 or 5 listens there are only a few tracks ("Listen," "Silent Side of You," "Sincere," "Why Dreams Bleed") that still hold my attention. It's not a bad disc to have on shuffle in a changer, but if I could only have a handful of CDs with me for an extended period of time, this one wouldn't make the cut.
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Index Case Label:Mortal Music
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