It's been 17 years and I'm going to lay down a conservative estimate that very, very few really remember Glass Casket, but I'm one of those weird, weird people. 2004 debut We Are Gathered Here Today on the very cool Abacus Records was a killer, and 2006's Desperate Man's Diary was no slouch but fell victim to the time, technical metalcore already spinning itself into a bit of a tired haze by that point. 

So, cut to a million years later and time spent in Between The Buried And Me for two of these guys, and what's the end result? It's with a bit of trepidation I put this one on, and first cut “Merrymaker” is there for me, easing me into things with a slower deathcore crawl, and I'm immediately reminded of the coolness of this band, even though it's not like there aren't countless others that sound like this out there. But there weren't in 2004, not quite yet, so Glass Casket will always have that edge in my books. “Merrymaker” is a mere 1:17 and never picks up the pace, which is cool; it leads into “Let Them Go”, which handles groove and metalcore guitar squealies with style before the double bass kicks in and the band members show their tech chops before the classy guitar solo takes us away. 

“Prison Of Empathy” delivers staggering blasting and huge grooves and a rising climax; “For The Living” closes off the EP with six minutes that start grinding, get grooving, get a bit out there, and then come back together at the end. 

They've still got it, and although the world perhaps doesn't need technical metalcore the way it once did, if I'm looking to anyone for it, I'm looking to Glass Casket.