Killing Thing – Closed Casket 7″

Killing Thing has released a 3 song EP, Closed Casket. They open the release with the title track, which features moody guitar with screamed vocals that sound like they come from a distance. It brings to mind the brilliant Envy at first, but the song never quite lives up to its own potential. The lyrics are indecipherable without a lyric sheet, so it’s hard to judge their quality. The song kicks into high gear at around the two and a half minute mark, bringing their metallic hardcore sound into full fruition. The song has potential, but suffers from the recording quality. 

They follow with Ox King, which starts off like an early Deftones number, with heavy downtuned guitars. The vocals don’t match though, with a modern metalcore scream and plenty of breakdowns following shortly. The dreaded demonic wail comes at the mid mark of the song, which is unnecessary and cliché at this point. The last half of the song picks up though, moving away from the overdone screamo sound, to channel a more experimental sound, bringing to mind Every Time I Die. 

The final song on the release, Hark, hits hard and fast from the beginning. This song has a noticeable swagger at the beginning and stands out as the highlight of the release, but suffers from some random musical play in the middle section before finishing hard and fast. 

Killing Thing has released a decent 7” in Closed Casket. They manage to stretch themselves while working within a very limiting genre. There is some obvious potential here, the band know what fans are looking for and work hard to give it to them. They haven’t yet found that special something that will help them stand out in an overpopulated scene however.