Son Of The Mourning's last offering 'The Lambton Road' EP was a fine mix of melody, muscle and metallic ferocity and I'm pleased to report that 'Forest Bank' continues where that disc left off, o­nly with all the elements of their metallic hardcore mix stepping up a notch. From the schizophrenic o­nslaught of the title track where a glass in the throat style shriek overlaps into a clean, soaring backing vocal to the peaks and valleys of 'A Broken Palisade' where an almost punky, stomping vibe is punctuated brilliantly by a haunting mid song breakdown its evident that SOTM have lifted their game from what was already a fairly lofty place. Truly a huge, huge breath of fresh air amongst all the Funeral For A Friend-a likes and faux-emotive lighter hardcore bands currently clogging up both the airwaves and the mailbox and reviews section of this very site, 'Forest Bank' is a 5 track journey where the word mediocre is never even considered let alone comes into place. As-well as the aforementioned highlights the EP is also notable for the solemn yet somehow positive feeling closing tones of 'To Accept o­n Face Value' and the menacing stop/start leads of 'Knives For Fingers'. Imminently due a release through Engineer records keep an eye out for this EP as it's o­ne of the best releases so far this year and is a solid showcase of a constantly improving young bands many talents and classy songs. Highly, highly recommended. (engineer)