At which point does a screamo band become a metal band? I'm not too sure about the definition myself, maybe I'm just stuck in the mould of old journalistic cliches and lumping bands into pre-determined genres the mass media tell us are the 'in' thing. Whatever Own Worst Enemy are (their press release tells us they are metal, but they seem to do that noisy, scream/shout/quiet thing) I just don't like it. I can listen to a multitude of bands who growl and scream and then try and make melodic choruses, but OWE lack either the choruses of a Hawthorne Heights or the power of bands like Bleeding Through. It's ok to put a foot in both camps, as this band do, but why be a jack of all trades when you're ultimately a master of none?
The second song rips off an Incubus guitar riff and then screams all over it. It's particularly unplesant and at over five minutes is about three minutes too long. Apparently these guys are making waves in the underground scene so perhaps I'm missing something, but this just sounds like a million other bands to me. Sorry.
www.ownworstenemy.com
paul
