On their final release, Frodus has turned in their most accessible and 
engaging album yet. It opens with a track that has been circulating 
around the Internet for awhile, one that was more along the lines of the 
last two albums.  By the time the second song comes on though, you can hear 
the difference they have gone through in the time since "Conglomerate 
International."


The first way I ever heard Frodus described was as "spazz-core," and the 
first time I ever saw them I was definitely not into what they were doing. I 
believe I saw them open for Karate when I was mired in my high school
limp-indie-rock phase.  Now that I'm into more spazzy stuff, five years
later, they've seemingly mellowed out. On the first few listens I thought
that after the first song they had abandoned it for a more contemplative,
brooding, typical DC sound. While it is all those things, and while it
borrows from bands like Hoover and Regulator Watts, Frodus does retain some 
of the "spazz-core" feel.  It's more hidden here than on previous records,
though.  It creeps up at the end of a song when vocalist Shelby Cinca sheds
his clean vocals and goes back to full on screaming. It sneaks up on you,
and that is where the power of this album lies. The songs are long and
drawn out; they pass by almost effortlessly so that when they do explode
into full on rock, it's like you almost miss it. It's as if they don't feel
content to merely bludgeon us over the head with bloody-throat screaming
anymore, they have to take us in and overpower us after wrapping themselbes 
around us for five minutes at a time. in that way this record reminds me a 
lot of the newest Engine Down album, "To Bury Within The Sound." Both rely 
heavily on their geographical conventions but offer much more with repeated
listens. This record is highly recommended, especially if you enjoy any of
the bands I listed here.