Flashback CD Review #38 - Index Case - S/T

This review was written in 2005 for the Rock Is Life.com website.

Index Case

S/T

Mortal Music - 2005

http://www.indexcase.com

What's The 4-1-1?

The self-titled debut release from the Iowa quartet brings their brand of metal to the masses.

Genre

Heavy Metal / Hard Rock

The Good

The band has a nice grasp on balancing the line between their metal and hard rock sides. The opening song "Listen" is a surprisingly catchy metal song with pure metal screaming and wailing. "The L" is more of a hard rock song with melodic vocals and while singer Joe Ansley has a great metal scream, I think the melodic vocals sound much more natural.

"Why Dreams Bleed" has a great guitar riff from Josh Parker. "Sincere" features both the melodic and metal vocals, but mixes them nicely to keep it sounding fresh. The chorus in the song is handled quite well. I'd have to say the hard rocker "Silent Side of You" is the best song on the album.

The Bad

I didn't care for the vocals on "Why Dreams Bleed". Three other songs were off my radar; I didn't think they were very good at all.

The Verdict

The 12 song debut from Index Case allows for quite a cross-section of rock music for the listener's ear. Great guitar work, crashing drums and a singer who knows when to mix up the vocal delivery so as not to lessent the enjoyment of the listening audience. This may only be the first album from the band, but I can tell you that this album is better than ANYTHING I've heard from their fellow Iowans Slipknot.

Did You Know?

The band was signed to Mortal Music by Soil bassist Tim King who started the label with Twelfth Gate's Rob Such.

Index Case has toured all over the U.S. with such bands as Mushroomhead, Hed PE and Dry Kill Logic as well as opening shows int their local area for Rob Zombie, Disturbed and others.

Rating: 3 1/2 out of 5