Since October is one of the most recent additions to Tooth & Nail Records. Their debut release This Is My Heart is a sort of call back to older days of alternative rock (Remember Justified?). Crunchy guitars, lots of power chords, raspy vocals, booming choruses that give way to quiet verses, that in turn give way to more booming choruses… it is the whole package. And it feels like it's been done so many times and in so many ways.

At no point while listening to This Is My Heart does it feel like you are hearing anything you haven't heard before, and years ago, even. And when things get slowed down a bit for a more pop/rock, radio-friendly feel, it ends up coming across as a Building 429/ Seventh Day Slumber hybrid.

Since October does win points for their vulnerability, at least lyrically. It isn't that their words are incredibly deep or poetic or anything like that, but simply that they are real, and relatable. They voice inward struggles and fears that a lot of times don't see the light of day. Ben Graham explains in the band's bio, "It's truth. It's real life stories. And this record is a part of me. And probably a part of me that most people would never see if I could not put it to music, it's honest." Major points for such honesty.

So it is unfortunate that such vulnerability will be lost in a sea of manufactured guitar crunches, hooks and harmonies that cause you to play the inevitable "Hey, that sounds a lot like…" game. Still, fans of the genre may feel right at home and easily embrace these newcomers. If so, more power to them, and I encourage them to get into the lyrics. The rest of us probably will not even give This Is My Heart a chance, which is unfortunate, because they have some important things to say. But it's all in the delivery.

- Review date: 5/25/08 by Josh Taylor of Jesusfreakhideout.com