This is really good. Five fresh-sounding demo tracks and a somewhat muddy live set. The new tracks shine with something of a “post-screamo’ glow, the kind of stuff that a few of the Level Plane-affiliated bands seem to be playing right now, a sound which is a welcome change from the insidious squall of Orchid Synapse clones churning out an endless torrent of mediocre wax. Doubtless this sound will catch on in the next six months, and I’ll be moaning about how every band sounds the same once more, but hey. I’m going to enjoy it while it lasts and try to think positive for once.
So. The Fiction play technical, hoarse, emo-hardcore that fans of bands like Off Minor, Hot Cross and Light The Fuse And Run would do well to check out. Lots of well-played melodic guitar parts with an underlying jazz influence, ominous, thundering drums and some seriously mean vocals that I wouldn’t necessarily expect from a band like this. There’s also a whiff of something more rockin’ about the music, stuff that you could probably dance to if you felt that way inclined. Some of the time at least. I bet this band is tremendous fun live and gets the kids snaking their hips like crazy. Aherm. So the verdict is that this is pretty darn ace, and I’m now going to attempt to find a copy of their LP because I was too dumb to pick it up when it first came out.