Coming from a middle-class suburb, walking around campus and seeing thick-rimmed glasses, scarves, vintage sweaters and leggings typically emblematic of pretentious indie rock kids makes me nostalgic for the Insane Clown Posse and Slipknot T-shirts clouding my high school memories.

Throwing on Victory Records’ The Autumn Offering’s new CD is like taking a step back to simpler times – like 9th grade. Fear Will Cast No Shadow, the Florida metalcore band’s third studio album, wait for it…doesn’t suck.

When working in one of the most culturally denigrated genres of music (behind pop country and ska), to create an album with some artistic merit is a pretty big accomplishment. In fact, being a metalcore band works to The Autumn Offering’s advantage. Instead of having to focus on lyrics (just throw in some blood and dying imagery), the quintet is left to focus on the music, which they do pretty well.

Their stand-in drummer Jon Lee (who has since been replaced by Nick Gelyon) is precise and impressive throughout the album. The guitar work is the definite high point, incorporating thrash licks, heavy breakdowns and Dragonforce-esque harmonic solos.

Fear Will Cast No Shadow’s downfall is vocals, provided by Matt McChesney. McChesney actually isn’t so bad, just really inconsistent with the way he sings. He switches rapidly from growling, to screaming, to whining, to butt-rock droning – all of which he does well. If he just settled on one style, the album would be much more cohesive.

If you’re a remote fan of metal, The Autumn Offering is a band that shouldn’t be quickly overlooked. They have a lot of things going for them, and if given a chance, they may just surprise you.

Overall: 6.5/10