With each listen, this album shows the intricacies which are the strength to this style. The name fits the band well. The vocals are aggro and fiery. Very mature hardcore vocals with enough growl and pitch to remind the listener of grind and death metal. And the guitar equals the vocals. Amazing changes... These guys will probably get compared to Embodyment about a bazillion times, but Spitfire is making their own path. There are really nice time changes and tone changes; very involved and all over the map. This album is worth listening to; just listen to the variety of stuff going on in just one song. Very amazing. It's not as fast as some stuff, but it doesn't feel like that's their route, anyway. And besides, it's crazy fast. The background vocals are more singy and bridge the fast-changing with the melodic. So in case you are one of those types that doesn't do well with the non-melodic metal-core of today, this album may have enough to draw you in and force a deeper listen. Very good background voices as well. Track 4 could easily be the most beautiful song on the album. With an almost seamless entry from the previous trace, the song is full-out yelling and heavy, then breaks into an almost acoustic solo. The yelling comes back in, along with the acoustic sound and more guitars are overlaid. Powerful and inspiring, the song ends in heaviness. The production/recording/engineering is clean, excellent. The mix is nice, too; the vocals are strong enough and yet, not everything. Intelligent work... this album can bring in the fringe listeners to Spitfire's style of metal-core. While this album is unique, it is also following closely in it's predecessors' footsteps. It may not seem unique enough, but this style is making a home big enough to house more than one or two bands. The nuances are what set bands apart, when the drastic does not. This is the case here as well. The uniqueness is found most readily in the use of the melodic background vocals and in some tones and time changes that are not common to this style (not in sound but in some of the changes Roadside came to mind. A temporary lapse of reason? See what you think). Look deeper; that's when it becomes better than average.
Other coverage for this album
Exit Zine 1999Reviewed by John SantThese guys are definitely innovative and have created a genre that is completely their own. It's an odd combination of off-time drumbeats coupled with melodic, chugging guitars. And while this sounds pretty standard, it isn't at all. Sadly, this doesn't save Spitfire from creating one too many songs that plod along to the end. This band has SO much potential, it's insane. There's innovation…Art for the Ears 1999Reviewed by Marco PovervestHere's another metalcore product from the Solid State Records roster. Compared to other bands from the label, Spitfire can be described as a cross between Embodyment and Training For Utopia. It has the diversity of riffs that succeed each other from Embodyment. It has the chaotic structures from TFU. Sometimes there are fast parts as fast as the speed of light (like Embodyment) but most of the…The Phantom Tollbooth 1999Reviewed by Justin W. JonesIf madness and poetry were to produce children, their children would be Spitfire. This trio from Virginia Beach doesn't sound very nice ... or do they? That's the problem with this album: just when you think you've figured out their style, the band stops and switches it up. For the most part, The Dead Next Door is hardcore music with raging vocals, scorching guitars, and melodic bridges. I think…Similar sounding releases
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