Sound: Dark melodic punk veterans mature; Their blood and death fascination has far from disappeared (note the album title), but the lyrics feel more purposeful, refined and less schticky this time around
Vocals: The cleaner, gentler Matt Skiba trades off lead duties with the murkier, coarser Dan Andriano, while they frequently converge for tight, hummable harmonies
Production: Jerry Finn (who’s produced excellent albums like AFI’s Sing the Sorrow, Sparta’s Wiretap Scars and Blink 182’s untitled 2003 finale) returns to do his second Alkaline Trio album in a row
Heavy Rotation tracks: “Mercy Me“; “Time to Waste“; “The Poison“
Medium Rotation tracks: “Dethbed“; “Back to Hell“; “Burn“
Recommended: To those who marvel at Jerry Finn’s ability to fine tune promising but underachieving bands. Here, his more polished production perfectly compliments a band pushing themselves to a higher level…on the first half of the album. Unfortunately, their songwriting doesn’t quite maintain that level throughout.
Grade: B+ (1st Half = A; 2nd Half = B-)

(As posted 7/25/05 on davepowersmusic.com)
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