At first listen, Tempe, Arizona-based Eyes Set To Kill open up with a very somber piano piece that makes the introduction almost go the route of many other albums. There is plenty of build up and then poof, nothing else.
As they go into the first full track of their latest release Reach, it becomes quite clear that they come with a purpose. In the second track, “Song 2”, singer Alexia Rodriguez meshes together her guttural fits with angelic-minded vocals full of clarity, all the while manning control of the ax with great precision. Not to be outdone is sister Anissa Rodriguez with bass duties, Greg Kerwin on guitars, keyboardist Brandon Anderson and on drums, Caleb Clifton.
Coming from the prospective of a person who wants to correct their past and learn from their mistakes, the title track “Reach” exhibits a great amount of hook-laden melodies with plenty of substance. The song “Darling” immediately gives you some breakdown goodness bringing two bands to mind, Walls of Jericho and In This Moment — both of which ESTK have shared the stage with.
Now, it would be easy to listen and lump this in with the aforementioned bands, but that wouldn’t do them any justice. You can definitely hear them take pages and sounds from plenty of places but while they aren’t reinventing the wheel — honestly, who is nowadays? - what they are doing is giving folks a proper introduction to what they are capable of.
“Young Blood Spills Tonight” delves into the pain and anguish of divorce and the effects on not only the spouses but also on the kids as well. A solid-acoustic guitar intro takes you right into a barrage of carefully crafted guitar work and fierce drumming. As the records goes on, you can hear how they add a lot of dynamics with pianos and stripped-down guitars that give it the needed potency.
Overall: With a solid debut for sure, Eyes Set To Kill are about to take their place among the female-fronted hard-rock/metal bands and stake a claim of their own. This record is a must for fans of Atreyu, Underoath, In This Moment and Walls of Jericho. Just don’t say we didn’t warn you.
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