They're Our Judgment.

Confession time. While casting my gaze for new music, it is often beyond the water of the Chippewa and Eau Claire rivers. Whether out of passiveness, or pretension, I sometimes need to stick myself with that hook and reel myself back to the terra firma beneath my feet. If I don’t, then I end up missing out on local talent, like Our Judgment, and having to backtrack later only makes me look like a poser.

Admittedly, I might have taken a gander at their pubescent and glossy MySpace photo and dismissed them with a “meh” anyway. Fortunately, their five-track demo found its way into my player and I took the bait. While their blend of metal and hardcore is certainly very modern (don’t look for a Leeway here), and normally a style I tend to avoid like MRSA, you won’t hear another band quite like them around EC.

The disc reveals a truly massive and professional production. From there, all boxes are appropriately ticked. There’s classic Swe-death riffery a la mid-90s At the Gates. Vocals growl and scream like Carcass. The EP entire is cored by “gang” chants, floor punching breakdowns, and the occasional, desperate vocal exhortation.

The band (Jake Brolsen vocals, Steve Sauers and David Schian guitars, Tony Buckli drums) definitely can play. One wonders, though, how far they will truly ascend in the metal world at large where, let’s be honest, there is a lot of competition for this “sound.” However, this is their first release, and they have already demonstrated a sense of dynamics and compositional expertise that belies their age. These are positive portents. The day may come when Our Judgment is the destination for some wayward gaze casting from some far away city in the distance.