Time in Malta are Midwestern boys relocated to the Bay Area. Intricate guitar work and musicianship define this band along with some serious bellowing vocals. Unlike other hardcore bands that scream a high pitched shriek, Time in Malta have the yell that became the calling card of Helmet's heavier side.
Heavy riffs, double bass come together with a serious attention to a grooving mid-tempo writing style with some stop-start trickery to create a fairly heavy album. They don't recreate the wheel with their music, but it has enough catchy choruses to keep most fans of heavy music interested. Todd Guillon's vocals are solid, but he might not make it as a singer without his ability to yell his head off.
The album starts with a softer brooding instrumental that sounds like a calm before the storm which is the rest of the album. That doesn't last long as they blast into "Bare Witness" which sets the tone. The heaviness continues until track number five, "Ghosts" which explores a couple nice melodies. This is when the vocals really start to show themselves as a slight weakness to the band. The notes are there but they are hit ham-handedly, despite being doubled in spots.
This band's best work is on the heavier stuff and they do that pretty well on the remaining tracks. "Fused as One" is one of the highlights in my opinion. It has a nice soft intro that leads into the heaviness. This is one of the most diverse and accessible tracks on the album and I imagine it comes off very well onstage. "Event Horizon" is another pretty good track on the way out to "The Wayfarer" which runs the gamut of the sounds on the album on the way to an outro which is similar to the way the album opened.
Overall, I would say this album is a decent effort. Fans of heavier music will enjoy this. I would recommend it most for fans of Helmet, and bands like Isis, or Cave In.
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