“Melodic Hardcore” - A difficult genre to picture really, unless you run rampant with both punk and hardcore styles of music. So where I am unobjectionable with both genres, from what I heard of this band I am not entirely sure what to make of the genre. Admittedly however, this is the first band I’ve had a really good listen to of its kind.

First of the bands in question is  “Man Bear Pig”, a trio of hearty lads from Norfolk and this review is about their début EP “Ruined Emo”. This EP starts off in a rather shaky fashion, with a mild mixture of angst teen ridden scream-type vocals throughout the entire EP. Yet the hook of the entire song is what makes it easily fit together, and yes, whilst unorthodox it does actually fit. The guitar playing at times can seem a bit basic, however, it all comes together in probably the highlight of the EP which is “Things I’m Never Getting Back”, a prog/drone (ish) intro meshes it together until it really hits in about half way through the song and turns into what I can only describe really as early Aiden but a lot more untamed.

The vocals feel more like spoken words at times however; the easygoing bass playing along with the harmonized guitar work makes this song listenable. Drumming fans should probably not expect very much innovation. Moreover this EP really screams towards the youth of today who grew up with late AFI, or generally fans who just want the lighter side to this type of hardcore genre.