The theme of Your Arsonist can be deciphered by the album artwork. Can we say sexual harassment? Inside the booklet the lyrics are set up like a script for a play with each of the tracks working as a separate scene. Apparently Sledgehammer is trying their hand at literate hardcore. The script is a nice touch and allows the entire package to feel like a work of fiction as opposed to a confession.
While the music is fairly standard for hardcore with chunky guitars, throaty and hollered vocals, and breakdowns like woah, Sledgehammer adds some interesting touches to spice up the EP's short duration. Track two, "I Am Watching You," has great sing-a-long sections that would probably translate really well live. Then, "So Very Friendly" begins with a freaky nursery rhyme recitation that I might expect from an artist like The Residents or Mike Patton, not a hardcore band.
The only real annoying thing about Your Arsonist is how after the four main tracks are done the listener is treated to 83 more tracks of silence. Totaling about 18 minutes, the silence leads to a nice hidden track. While you can skip the silence, Sledgehammer actually positioned the hidden track at the end of track 87, not at 88, which is the last track number. It would have been a whole lot more professional and handy to just put the track after the last song on the cd.
2/4
