Too Pure To Die
Confess

Review By Emily Zemler

Once you get past Iowa band Too Pure To Die’s horrifically bad name, you’re faced with the task of trying to muck through the unimaginative, cluttered metalcore on the fivesome’s new record. The formulaic elements here — chugging guitar riffs, guttural vocals, double bass drumming — are all polished to a moderately overproduced studio sheen. Too bad the overall result is un-engaging and generic. “Can I Live” boasts what are probably meant to be impassioned lyrics, propulsive guitars and slick shot-fire beats, but there’s nothing new about its sound. In fact, songs like “Define Irony” (presumably a Reality Bites reference) and the charging “Gotham City” wind up feeling like rehashed songs from an endless number of like-minded bands (Poison the Well and All That Remains come to mind). The difference is that most of the bands Too Pure To Die mimic on this album are relatively original. This just sounds like five musicians trying to transform a Converge cover band into an actual band.