I believe it is safe to say that we have a trend on our hands.

Let’s call it the emo-metal-and-something trend. Some like to call it Screamo.

Over the past few months, I’ve heard several examples of young bands with a common denominator in a sensitive textual universe of the emo, mixed with something that doesn’t just sound like My Chemical Romance, but also black metal, thrash and death metal.

The Cornish quartet Nato make an interesting stab at how modern metal can sound without ever entering the ground of the great classics.

What I like about the release is that it has a fresh energy and boldly combines metalcore, classic Iron Maiden riffing, death metal growls and clean vocal interludes. The song writing is perhaps not the strongest, but its fragmented form wakes up the listener and for that the young band earns credit.

If it hadn’t been for the fact that the band split just recently and will be playing their final gig on December 20th, it should have been interesting to see what this band would’ve come up with for their next release!

Try this one out: Kill Em Dead Cowboy