Reviews list for 36 Crazyfists - Rest Inside the Flames (2006)

Reviewing albums from bands you've never listened to is always the craziest part of any clan challenge because you never know how well they'll turn out for you. Well seeing how much I like Brock Lindow's contribution in the Demon Hunter song "Beauty Through the Eyes of a Predator", I got a slightly good feeling about this band...

36 Crazyfists had already released a couple albums before this, 2002's Bitterness The Star and 2004's A Snow Capped Romance, which I heard that the latter is a huge leap forward from the former with catchy melodic choruses mixed with sonic aggression. 2006 saw the release of this album Rest Inside the Flames! 36 Crazyfists managed to stabilize the band and expand it larger than the overrated "bigger" bands.

The album opens with a crazy killer song, "I'll Go Until My Heart Stops" which has the band's typical fast aggression and terrific melodies. The vocal skills of vocalist Brock Lindow give the song great vibes, and he goes until the song stops. I've just started the hard part of the Melodic Metalcore Clan Challenge, and already I'm hearing the best song in that part so far! "Felt Through a Phone Line" shows the band improving on maturity, both musically and lyrically. There's more melody and clean vocals added to the screaming aggression. It really grows on even the heavy fans. I would listen to "On Any Given Night" on any given night! "Elysium", featuring Howard Jones from Killswitch Engage, is the most aggressive song here. It has some of the more familiar elements of 36 Crazyfists, but with heavier guitar riffs.

"The Great Descent" is not really an epic, but it has an epic vibe and it's longer than all the other songs in the album. A strong highlight! "Midnight Swim" reveals Lindow's gentler vocal side while maintaining the intensity. "Aurora" perfectly captures all of the band's catchiness in one song, thereby being the catchiest song on the album. Another one of my personal favorite songs here is "Will Pull This in by Hand", having a great riff in the middle that would be one of the greatest riffs in 2006. I bet this song would kick a** when they play it live.

We Cannot Deny the impeccable "We Cannot Deny" having cool vocals from Lindow and Milligram/Only Living Witness vocalist JONAAAAAH JENKINS!! (sorry, cannot resist that meme) "Between the Anchor and the Air" has dense rhythms that help the band really knock Linkin out of the Park (get it??). The album closes with the acoustic ballad "The City Ignites", which is pretty surprising. Why did they give the most metalcore-ish song title to the softest ballad?! Still a fitting ending!

People say that this is a big step from A Snow Capped Romance, and they're probably right. Those people who listen to 36 Crazyfists would recognize the old sound they've fallen in love while hearing the band's more diverse development. There are much softer and much heavier moments. Brock Lindow really handled the vocals well and did his part in giving the album its deserving brilliance. While Rest Inside the Flames is mainly a metalcore album, it might be a more suitable album to be purchased by alt-metal fans. The softness doesn't open well for the heavier metalheads like myself, but if you're a fan of metal that is a tad softer, this will blow your mind away....

Favorites: "I'll Go Until My Heart Stops", "Elysium", "The Great Descent", "Will Pull This in by Hand", "We Cannot Deny"