The debut release from Victoria’s hard rock outfit Kincaide is a double edged sword, the musicianship is tight, gripping and uncompromising, the vocal range is strong, but on the other hand the band has yet to find its own signature sound, often coming off as some sort of Tool cover-band or finding itself wreaking of trendy hard rock stereotypes to the point that I can almost envision the over-the-top pantomime gestures that are taking place with every scream or guitar solo. When the band strips away the façade and it’s genuine and impassioned intent shows through, the songs impact jumps significantly but these occasional cracks aren’t prominent enough to redeem the over-all lack of originality throughout this six track release. - Jesse Ladret Making their music heard over the ocean from Vancouver Island, this is a band who's clean parts easily match up with the distorted, and might even be a little bit better. The very first song of the album, The Indecision Of A Child, Ladies & Gentleman, opens undistorted and returns to that sound periodically during the song between heavier parts. The same goes for most of the others. There's screaming and distortion on every single track but a good part of the CD is pretty mellow. There's lots of switching from clean to equally catchy distorted riffs throughout all the songs, and the singing and screams take turns too. Trigger Time is the only track on here without much clean guitar at all, but there's a good mixture of speed and rhythm changes, and the kind of combination of shrieks and singing that you can definitely expect to hear from Kincaide. The vocals are pretty smooth and easy to understand. I can even make out most of the screams, which is good because a lot of other bands can't seem to scream actual words. Most of the songs have a pretty good length. The chorus in the almost ten minute long Failing To Recognize is the one that stuck in my head the most. Maybe it's the way it's sung or maybe it's what I think are the words "She's like a knife broken in my neck and digging in." Whatever the reason, it stands out. There aren't many other parts on the album that let the songs stand out overly much, at least not against each other. They're all on pretty much the same level. I'm not saying any of the songs are bad; they're all actually pretty good. And I'm not saying they all sound the same either. There's just not really anything that pushes any far beyond the rest. If you like one song, chances are you will like them all. The CD is slightly more than half an hour long, but only 6 songs. Maybe with a few more songs on it they could have really shown what they've got, 'cause it definitely sounds like they have a lot to offer. If you're ever in Victoria, or if they happen to play near you, I'd say Kincaide is worth checking out. review by Cory at
punkcanada.net 
