SHAOLIN DEATH SQUAD

Shaolin Death Squad is a self-titled EP release by American progressive metal act Shaolin Death Squad. The EP was released in February 2004. It´s a self-released affair and the EP is the first official release by the band. The 30:53 minute long EP contains 6 tracks.

The music on the album is not your everyday Dream Theater influenced progressive metal. Rather the band have opted for a style that´s really hard to define, but there are both progressive and alternative metal elements on the album. Lead vocalist Androo O'Hearn ( or The White Swan as he also goes by) has a voice that´s very similar to the voice of Mike Patton and it´s difficult not to mention Faith No More as a big influence. It´s not only the voice that leads to this comparison, but don´t fear a Faith No More clone by any means. Shaolin Death Squad definitely have their own style and sound. The music is generally very melodic and the songlines memorable. The songs are not terribly complex, but there are sections here and there that are undeniably progressive. The songwriting are of high quality and the musicianship excellent, so you´ll get top notch performances all around. The production is also very good and I´m sure you wouldn´t guess this was a self-released affair if you didn´t know. Now I said the songwriting is of high quality, but honestly it´s the first three songs on the EP that really takes the prize. The last three songs on the EP are not quite as interesting and especially the ambient instrumental Sleepless doesn´t do that much for me. It´s enjoyable but not really excellent.

All in all the Shaolin Death Squad EP is definitely worth a listen if you enjoy a combination of progressive and alternative metal. A 3 star rating is deserved. Had the latter part of the EP been better I would have given a 3.5 star rating. It´s a very promising first release though.