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Track Listing: Awake (3:45) Images (3:27) Falling Forever (3:51) Year Of Affliction (3:45) Forsaken (3:40) Lethean (3:34) Oblivion (3:44) Undone (3:18) Hours (2:59) Suffocate (4:37) Reflections (3:45)

With several years of studio work and two big tours under their belts, members of New Jersey-based metal sextet, Mutiny Within, have finally released their long-awaited, self-titled debut album. The band consists of brothers AJ Jacobs (bass) and Brandon Jacobs (guitar), Christopher Clancy (vocals), Bill Fore (drums), Daniel Bage (guitar) and Andrew Stavola (keyboard). In the past few months there has been a lot of buzz about this band, and for good reason. After listening to their single and video for 'Awake', which was released in early January, I think that the band has all the necessary ingredients for a successful metal act. Being both talented and young, Mutiny Within's future is incredibly bright. Luckily, my first impressions garnered from the 'Awake' single also hold true in regards to the rest of the songs on their debut album.

The record opens with 'Awake', which demonstrates everything that is unique about this band. Chris Clancy's clean vocals are impressive to say the least, but the standout parts of the song are the emphatic growls that punctuate the verses in just the right moments. The guitar solo from Brandon Jacobs is also a shining moment, as well as the subtle piano licks from Stavola in the interlude. I've heard AJ Jacobs state in several interviews that this opening track is a great representation of the band's sound as a whole, and I definitely agree. The track opens the album with a bang.

The next song, 'Images', explodes in with an aggressive, thrashy riff and quickly transitions into a catchy, melodic chorus. With this song, I began to realize that Mutiny Within's strengths lie in their fresh, melodic elements and their abilities to transition from pensive, softer tones to heavier, angrier ones. One downside to this, however, is the lack of riff-based songs; 'Images' gives listeners a taste of the band's ability to produce a great riff, but there aren't really any comparable moments on the rest of the album.

The standout of the album is track four, 'Year of Affliction'. The band pieces together everything perfectly in this song and once again showcases their signature switch-ups between aggressive and tempered. The keyboards and guitar solos add to the track without sounding over-the-top, and Clancy displays talent in both the vocal and lyrical department. The more I listen to this track, the more musical twists I discover within it. The keyboards and dual guitars in the band make for complex, rich layering of different melodies.

The second half of the album contains a strong set of melody-driven songs. 'Lethean' stands out as the heaviest on the album but also delivers an epic chorus, a great lyrical hook and a huge keyboard presence from Stavola. The closing track of the album, 'Reflections', is a unique track that showcases the strength and talent of drummer Bill Fore. Tempo changes, aggressive screams and another catchy chorus and lyrical moment at the end ('just reflections, misconceptions') left me wanting to hear more. On that note, most of the songs on the album clock in at just over three and a half minutes each - a little short for the typical metal tune. This is one of the few downsides of the album, but at the same time, Mutiny Within packs so much into a short amount of time that the song length doesn't seem to matter much.

Mutiny Within's self-titled debut is solid, unique and catchy, and with it the band has already managed to define a signature sound and song structure. The mix of epic choruses, incredibly strong vocals and both aggressive and subdued moments combine to make Mutiny Within's first effort a huge success.