Burning Bridges

On its debut for Solid State (Tooth & Nail's heavy music outpost), Indianapolis quintet Haste the Day garnishes its trad metal pacing and death and metalcore extremes with flourishes of emo and some melodic nods to Tool. The influence of acts like Living Sacrifice and Zao is strong here, in both the mixed-bag approach and the dedication to faith-based headbanging. "Blue 42" sets up the album nicely, with vocalist Jimmy Ryan screaming savagely over half-time staccato percussion before the song switches into a classic dual-guitar strut. However, Haste the Day proves even more restless in "Blue"'s final portion, shifting into a normal human singing voice. Fans of modern underground types like Poison the Well won't be thrown by the stylistic wanderlust -- it's become part of the scenery, especially in metalcore. Burning Bridges is a well-played album, especially in more straightforward metal workouts like "Closest Thing to Closure" and the absolutely incendiary "Last Goodbye." The band does occasionally struggle with getting its varying pieces to sync cohesively, but that might be due to rookie jitters (it's their first time in the studio, after all). Fortunately, Haste gets it more than right more often than not, particularly on "American Love," which crams chunks of thick distortion and shrill fretboard runs between thrilling instrumental breaks and a lush, harmony-drenched midsection that's closer to forlorn modern rock than the hot coals of heavy metal singeing most of Burning Bridges. A contemplative, nearly nine-minute outro featuring plucked electric guitars and plinking synthesizers only makes wondering what direction Haste the Day will go in next that much more intriguing.