Burn the Priest / ZED

This split is quite decent, however it suffers from having only one real standout song, with the rest just sounding like filler. It is also a bit short, clocking in at only 7:54 minutes. While this isn't necessarily that bad, it would be good if there were just a few more songs by ZED, as this was only one of two of releases they would put out before they would disintegrate, and I would like to hear a bit more of them (if only to see if the vocalist improved) without having to track down the other split they did. Anyway, onto the songs.

Upon picking this split up and listening to the first song 'Ruiner' by Burn the Priest, I found it hard to believe that this band would later turn into the plodding, breakdown infested metalcore band known as Lamb of God. This is the aforementioned standout song, with it's nice thrashy riffs, fast paced soloing and surprisingly good vocals from Randy (a far cry from the later, boring vocals he would develop). If the rest of the split was as good as this, it would be getting a rating in the upper 80s.

Alas, it is not, as 'The Ballad of Kansas City' starts off around half the speed of the previous song with mediocre riffs. And while the bass sound was acceptable on the first track, it starts to annoy here, as it doesn't really suit the song. All is not lost, however, as halfway through it changes into a breakdown of sorts (an actual good one at that, not like the single note chugging ones which metalcore bands use today) with a great riff driving it along. It speeds up in the end with some good double bass work.

The final track by ZED is up next, which starts off with a decent riff which sounds like it'll turn into something promising, and then the vocals come in. For fucks sake, this guy sounds like a 10 year old on crack, and I'm not exagerating. His voice is like a pre pubescant with a nasal voice shifted up a pitch or two. If you just listen to the riffs however, it is not a bad track, aside from the breakdown in the middle that is too long and slow to be anything enjoyable.

So in conclusion, it would basically make a great little split if the second track was sped up a bit, and the vocalist for ZED didn't sound so idiotic. What it is though, is a split that deteriates in quality as it goes on, leaving it with one excellent song, one above average and one below average.