Muzzle Flash
Delightful Suffering
Self Released
Street: 09.28.13
Muzzle Flash = Pearl Jam x Creed

The debut from the Salt Lake City–based post-grunge trio does all of the things you would expect from an outfit whose main influences include Queens of the Stone Age and the Foo Fighters—mainly gritty, angsty, power rock. The guitar riffs and slamming percussion here definitely hit hard, and often come off nicely—though, at times, the songwriting doesn’t. With lines like, “You won’t find love from a hooker, you might find yourself,” the lyrical content can distract from all of the great things Muzzle Flash are trying to do here. The result of all of this is a sophomoric-sounding effort that was hard to get all the way through in one sitting. For fans of rock who want a departure from the hipster scene, you could probably do worse than Delightful Suffering. For everyone else: pass. –Blake Leszczynski