Local Music Reviews
Sawed Off Smile
Chaos Theory
Self-Released
Street:12.06.09
Sawed Off Smile = Mudvayne + Deftones (early) + Tool (early)
Ogden’s Sawed Off Smile play modern rock/hardcore on Chaos Theory. Heavy riffs and plenty of clean, yet well executed melodies that don’t excessively rely on breakdowns like some of their peers. If you enjoy the bands in the band equation above, the album is a good offering—think the melody and heaviness of Mudvayne meets the early emotions of Tool with a hint of the rawness of the Deftones’ first album. The record does have some misses with plenty of room for improvement. Some of the anger seems a bit forced and false at times and the sung vocals do have quite a range, at times feeling a bit shaky in the confidence area, but not enough to ruin anything. The bass is easily standout, and so is the fact that the band isn’t afraid to use different guitar tones and mix-ups of styles of heavy modern rock.