Given that CALLOUS have only been around since the end of 2008 I was a little apprehensive as to what to expect from this four-piece from Kent. However, at first CALLOUS exceeded my expectations with ‘Descension’, the tracks were lead by Gray’s relentless vocals and backed up by “furious solos”. It was only on a second listening that I realised that my initial expectations of mediocrity were probably justified. Every track becomes a bore after listening to it once or twice and there is no chance that in the long-run you will be scouring your cd collection or i-tunes library for CALLOUS.

I would like to compare this mini album to that of EXIT TEN’s ‘This World They’ll Drown’ which truly was memorable and forced me to see them live a couple of times, but I just cannot bring myself to flog this band. It isn’t a case of the band being poor, it is that there is no diversity, each and every song is compiled of unmemorable choruses and verses followed by relatively decent solos. The only part of ‘Decension’ which provoked any kind of emotive response from myself came in the final track ‘Through These Final Hours’, where the song concludes with a raw acoustic moment with the band which explodes into an epic minute or so of pure guitar riffage and solo, not to mention the heart pounding drumming. It is this moment within the mini album and this moment only which provokes me into thinking that CALLOUS have something more to offer.

In conclusion do not go and buy this album if you’re looking for anything new or exciting because you definitely will not find it here, however CALLOUS’s next instalment may well be something to go searching for, only maybe though.

Rating: 1.5/5.0

Review by Alex Duncalf