Review by JD on November 27, 2008.

I was intrigued when reading the bio that Straight Line Stitch has sent along with their CD... and that made me really look forward to hear the album. It was when I hit play when my itch was suddenly... confused as hell, yet I felt like smiling at the same time.

Hailing from Knoxville TN, the band seems to be lead by a steel angel. Lead singer Alexis Brown is both very beautiful and exceedingly talented at the same time. She goes from coming out with very amazing clean vocals then batters you with some staggeringly heavy growls that has the viciousness of a crazed pit-bull. She spits out every word with a staggering amount of strength and conviction, but still keep true to herself as the artist that she is.

The musicians as a whole are good for what they are doing, but it strikes me as a little average for backing up such a talent like Alexis is. Combining what is essentially Nu-Metal with a little more extreme types of metal thrown in... the music comes out feeling more than a little stiff and has a rushed feel. The music is helped out greatly by the pure and very strong vocal presence that Ms. Brown brings, and that is the deciding factor between an average album and great one.

In my opinion only... I hope that they will go quite a bit heavier while keeping the melody base of it so they can free the lurking beast that is their frontwoman. I can only wait to see what they will do, praying that they don't 'drop a stitch' in the meantime. As a whole though, They did make a very good and safe sort of record... but sadly it was not a great effort.

Categorical Rating Breakdown

Musicianship: 6
Atmosphere: 5
Production: 6
Originality: 5
Overall: 7

Rating: 5.8 out of 10