Flee the Seen

Hardcore breakdowns usually share songs with clear, confident female vocals about as often as supermodels show up at Rush concerts. And yet, Flee the Seen, which alternates its crushing slow-down segments with sickle-sharp melodies, combines these elements in combustible fashion. Kim Anderson's strong, smoky singing soars over jagged riffs, dense drumbeats and her own staggered bass lines. Guitarist R.L. Brooks uses his primal scream as an accent instrument, punctuating the percussion during intense outbursts. On The Sound of Sirens, the group treads dark waters, detailing destroyed relationships with cryptic warnings. Let truth be found in this underground comes the refrain from "Escape Plan," which sounds like a music-as-savior testimonial until the rest of the lyrics establish the phrase as an urgent plea for crime-scene evidence. At once heavier and catchier than sonically similar acts such as Pretty Girls Make Graves and Tsunami Bomb, Flee the Scene adds serious heft to its hooks and carries the weight well.