I’m afraid it’s a case of vocals again as it usually is, but the vocals can make or break a band, infact they often do so I always feel it’s important to give them a once over.

Ed Dickinson can sing, no question, he can hold a note fine, but the melodies he uses need a lot of work (yes even metal vocalists have melodies). In ‘Schadenfreude’ this was immediately obvious as they sounded flat against the music behind them, perhaps a note up would have suited it better.

The screaming however works very well, it’s backed perfectly pretty much throughout the album but Ed can’t seem to make his mind up between being a metal vocalist and a general rock vocalist which is actually true with the band as a whole, sometimes you get gut wrenching aggression and other times it‘s just flat. He’s similar to Exit Ten’s frontman in many ways but lacks the soaring and brilliant melodies he works with and it just leaves the impression that he’s new to this game.

I love when NEX decide it’s time to make the crowed want to swing at each other risking life and limb to be the hardest bastard in the pit but they deveate from this both track to track and section to section inside the same tracks. I respect NEX for wanting to create their own sound and they’ve done that, but it needs to be refined, improved and beaten with a stick until it’s really, really pissed off.
Track 9, OMG is pretty good at this, in fact it’s probably the one stand out track, unfortunately it is practically System of a Down in every way, especially from about 55 seconds in to around the 1.10 mark it could have easily been taken from some B side I’m yet to hear.

My suggestion would be they have a good look at Exit Ten and incorporate the vocal style into their sound, who knows where it might lead.

Worth checking out for sure, but not going to be a hit this time around.

Track List 1. Schadenfreude 2. Fading 3. The Worm 4. Paper Moon 5. Friday 13th 6. Uncle S.A.M 7. Boneyard 8. Scissor Suicide 9. Omg 10. Master Plan 11. Tick 12. The Hand that Feeds 13. The End