Powerful, capable, and extremely pissed off, Turmoil continue down the path of enlightenment with another quality release. Advancing the sound and ideas put forth on their From Bleeding Hands opus, this group of Pennsylvanians come through with 12 tracks of socially aware music. Probably termed crossover, or metal-core, I'd throw Turmoil on the hardcore side of the fence based on ethics, song structure AND delivery. Yeah, the guitars are chunky, providing a "metal" feel, but c'mon, this is hardcore, well-produced, thicker than 10 years ago, but still hardcore. Quite a few names thrown around with these guys (Snapcase, Hatebreed), and I'd say that's fairly appropriate, as this stuff all gets my blood boiling at around the same temperature. So while one can debate as to which realm the musical attributes may lie, vocally, there's just no argument, Jon Gula regurgitating a lifetime of anguish in every line of prose in true NYHC fashion. You can just feel this guy's pain, displayed over a solid battery of noise which manages to demolish without overpowering or losing a sense of groove. Most tracks stay near the midpace, yet the album doesn't mind slowing things down on Impending Doom Theory, which skirts the sphere of consciousness inhabited by bands like Neurosis. And speaking of which, I do catch a few samples here and there, but nothing like the aforementioned A/V beast, and absolutely no tribal drumming, which sends me towards the stop button in a true Pavlovian response. I also really like the guitar dynamics which are reminiscent of early Sonic Youth during a few numbers. Experimentalism such as that knocks a record's grade up a notch ot two for me... Nice and angry, perfect for those mornings where you hate the world and yourself to boot.