The Fanciful

Canadian metalcore outfit Dead And Divine burst out of their native Ontario with their 2005 full-length, a fiercely propulsive album that drew from both hardcore and classic metal. THE FANCIFUL steps up Dead And Divine’s game by offering a tighter batch of songs that fuse melody, instrumental precision, and uninhibited thrash. The album’s lead single, “Like Wolves,” is a case in point: the combination of churning rhythms, grinding riffs, unsettling chord dissonance, and singer Matt Tobin’s ferocious screamo vocals packs a mighty wallop. Yet for all the band’s crushing power, there’s something oddly lyrical about their sensibility that sets them apart from the pack.