Lost Boy

Personnel: Patrick Snyder (drums).
Audio Mixer: Jason Succof.
Recording information: Glow In The Dark Studios.
Photographer: Jerad Knudson.
Christian metalcore outfit MyChildren MyBride's sophomore effort rises above its 2008 predecessor with a more adventurous approach to the genre. The basic tenets of the style (toneless screaming and staccato riffs layered over a foundation of tight, dry, double kick drum pedal bursts) are well represented on Lost Boy, but the machine screw production and tone-deaf melodic structures that often accompany those parameters are not. Guitarists Robert Bloomfield and Daniel Alvarado know how to grind out basic jackhammer riffs, but they also know how to take those riffs and bend them into something real, melodic, and surprisingly progressive. Standout cuts like "Hooligans" and "Redeemer" benefit from the old-school punk gang vocals, and producer Matt Goldman (Underoath, the Chariot) allots vocalist Matthew Hasting's voice (which is surprisingly effective and utterly devoid of Cookie Monster posturing) the room it needs to be heard, resulting in another strong outing for both the band and the increasingly "solid" Solid State Records. ~ James Christopher Monger