Draw the Line by Endface

This in turn led to sharing the stage with national acts such as Life of Agony, Default, Project 86, Apartment 26, Dokken, Dog Fashion Disco, Dope, and Society 1.

With the help of producer David St Onge (noted for putting finishing touches on the following artists recordings: Cold, Nickleback, and the Tea Party to name a few) the finishing touches were made to their first full length album in 2004 titled "Draw the Line." This album garnered instant attention on the west coast as soon as it was sent out. The band was approached by Daryl Silva to shoot a video for "Torn" which will be included in a reality based music DVD and Sony records has picked at least one song off of the album to be part of an extreme sports/motocross DVD with a national release.........

Album Review:

Endface

Draw the Line

www.endface.com

Glad I got a hold of this one - I think this will have appeal across a large range of tastes. Hailing from Buffalo, NY this foursome formed in 2001 and quickly pieced together their debut effort in the form of the "Process" EP. For such a relatively young band these guys have really got their proverbial caca together - easily sounding more polished and cohesive than many bands could hope for after a span of twice that many years.

There is an awful lot to like here - and none of it is the formulaic and borderline plagiaristic stuff you are apt to find from many newly-formed bands. There are a wide variety of styles at work in each track across this release. I'm not just talking different sounding songs - I am talking about musicianship displayed on a per instrument level. Dragan Stojkovski lays down deep -bass groundwork and often plummets to lung-rattling depths and up to rapid fretwork with rhythmic aplomb sure to capture the interest of any who were awed when Korn first became widely known. "Over Now" illustrates this roilig sea of bass-waves perfectly. Neil Thomas's drumming provides the tightly syncopated canvas needed to paint such big strokes of sound. Gordon Boiles provides the array of guitarwork ranging from rapid-fire crunch to clean acoustic and even jazzed out interludes and even punctuates a number of tracks with aberrant guitar noise perfectly suited to its respective context as in "Procedure". Harmonic is an understatement for the vocals laid down on this album by Jacob RH. Often countered by raspy guttural death backup vocals (courtesy Boiles) Jacob's clean vocals, harmonies and attenuated narrations and whispers layer perfectly. "Your Words" sums this up nicely and brings to mind Layne Staley and Maynard James Keenan (and I mean that in only the best way).

All things told this is an outstanding full-length debut by Endface - who bear considerable watching as they are sure to garner the attention they deserve.

Reviewed by: Matt Brammer

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