Phantasm / Everything Ends

split 7"

Silent Home Records

Genre: alternative rock, metal

Sep 11 2008

Ah, nothing beats a split 7". Phantasm's track brings on the rock, with a zippy tempo, blazing guitars, and some impressive falsetto vocals. It's a spirited, fiery slab of metal that doesn't reinvent the genre but showcases Phantasm's energetic fluency in the genre. Morosely-named Everything Ends, meanwhile, contributes a more generic alternative rock track in "The Grayest." The moany vocals and potent melody make this the record's more radio-ready song, but there's plenty of other bands that follow this formula to a tee and some of them do it better. There's serious promise in these youthful punk-poppers, but this track seems merely like a competent run-through of the genre's clichés.

phantasm's myspace / everything ends' myspace

75% / 68%

Matt Shimmer

[Vitals: 2 tracks, distributed by the label, released 2008]