Shai Hulud

Misanthropy Pure (Metal Blade)
by Scott Hefflon

“An emergence from a hibernation that included plenty of activity” is what the bio urges us to call this. Not a comeback, not a reunion, the band never broke up. Whatever. Great band, new singer, and he’s as limited as that Karl guy who held back Earth Crisis as they grew out of hardcore into a potentially great metal band… with a limited singer. Hey, this guy Matt can yell, sure, but he’s been on the same one note for the last five songs, and there’s only so long I can sit through it. Shai Hulud, like Refused, The Dillinger Escape Plan , and Converge, are the basis of metalcore (not really something to be proud of, just ask Mike Patton about nü metal), and musically, Shai Hulud are still right there, “break/break-up” or not. Vocally, not to pick on the new singer, who’s solid yet limited, he’s the weak link in what’s currently a namedropped metalcore band, but who knows what they could be if they were to stop taking breaks and really go there?
(www.metalblade.com)