I Killed The Prom Queen
Music For The Recently Deceased
6.2
About two years ago a fellow MR writer sent me a stack of burned cd's--most of them were from up and coming metal-core acts, as he knew how fond I was of the genre. Among stellar releases from The Showdown and The Acacia Strain was the frustrating mish-mash of a debut from Australia's I Killed the Prom Queen. Their debut, When Goodbye Means Forever, was an awkward attempt at early Dead to Fall/Killswitch Engage style metal-core marred by a terrible lack of distinction and sloppy execution. On Music For the Recently Deceased, I Killed the Prom Queen have drastically improved as players and tightened their sound, which makes their continued struggle to find an identity far more bearable to listen to, but far from remarkable.
Prom Queen's move to the middle of the metal-core pack on Music For the Recently Deceased is facilitated mostly by a new and improved production by none other than Gothenburg godfather Fredrik Nordstrom. While I'm usually in favor of acts like Prom Queen retaining the character found on their debuts, the Nordstrom production is well suited to their supremely melodic and breakdown heavy style of 'core. "Sharks in Your Mouth" and "Headfirst from the Hangman's Noose" are sharp and efficient displays of MetalBlade-core, full of punchy melodic half thrash, shimmering leads, and burly breakdowns. In fact, the bulk of the album retains a similar level of quality, and the band proves capable of spicing things up with their pretty extensive arsenal of well-worn but expressive riffs and leads.
Unfortunately, all my lukewarm praise really amounts to is an invitation, five years too late, to the metal-core party. Perhaps this is more of an indictment of a genre than the band itself, but Prom Queen have made a middle of the pack type album in a genre where only the most exemplary output has any staying power. So, while this is certainly an improving band, Music For the Recently Deceased sounds destined to be shelved next to releases by other MetalBlade also-rans like The Red Death, Neaera, and Winter Solstice.
