The brooding synth piano that opens Infinite // Unknown could easily give way to fret-wrangling prog geekery, and it might be more interesting if it did.
Carcer City are clearly fond of Architects, even down to the double slash in their album title, but adding a few more fuzzy synths and bits of electronica to their derivative metalcore does not an original band make. The atmospherics on Black Mirror are pleasant enough, but the ever-present synth line doesn’t develop beyond arbitrary plinks and plonks.
Although Infinite // Unknown is a well-mixed record with tightly executed riffs, and Patrick Pinion’s vocal tone is perfectly suited to the genre, the album lacks a truly distinctive sound. It veers close to finding its identity by playing with tempos and textures in Drifter, Covington and The Night Is Darkest Before The Dawn, and it becomes increasingly clear that ambient, electronics-led metalcore is what these guys do best. If Carcer City can hone in on their individuality, they could yet emerge as decent contenders in the UK metalcore scene.
