The Aging Harbor
Self Titled
5.4
It's the average records that are difficult to write about, and the debut EP from St. Louis-based four-piece The Aging Harbor is definitely one of them. Offering approximately 19 minutes of hardcore-laced metal, this young quartet is competent yet unexciting.
However, while The Aging Harbor aren't severely lacking in any area except originality (don't look for it; it isn't here), most of this EP could be tightened. "Bloodrite" is straightforward in its delivery of jumpy, hook-laden instrumentation, which a variety of growls and screams enhance, but on the whole seems too loose, as does follower "Battle for Judea." Still, TAH are brand new at this, so no one's expectations should be sky-high. More impressive than the typical hardcore-ish metal are the sections of "Battle for Judea" and "When the Dead Appear" that construct welcome, if fleeting, moments of tranquility during their latter halves. Conversely, "Exsisto Bestia" employs decent riffs, though the lead-heavy portion comes across as amateurish because it doesn't mesh with the rest of the song continuity-wise. "Voyage of the Iudico" is perhaps the most unpredictable of the five due to its tempo changes, clean verse, and soundclip outro, but is also disjointed for those very reasons.
Inevitably, what needs to be said here is that The Aging Harbor should keep at it. Improvement will come in time. No big revelation there. For now, I'd pass.
