{"id":20533,"date":"2014-06-03T00:00:10","date_gmt":"2014-06-03T00:00:10","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/?p=20533"},"modified":"2014-07-24T23:37:52","modified_gmt":"2014-07-24T23:37:52","slug":"ep-review-on-top-top-to-bottom","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/ep-review-on-top-top-to-bottom\/","title":{"rendered":"ON TOP – Top To Bottom EP (2014) | Album \/ EP Reviews @ Metal Forces Magazine"},"content":{"rendered":"

ON TOP
Top To Bottom EP<\/strong><\/span>
\n\"\"
\nHorror Pain Gore Death Productions (2014)<\/span>
Rating: 4\/10<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

\n\n\n
<\/td>\n\n
<\/p>\n\n\n
\n
<\/span><\/div>\n<\/td>\n
\n
<\/span><\/div>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/table>\n<\/div>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/table>\n<\/div>\n

Philadelphia\u2019s On Top get no marks for their rather bland moniker, and to be honest are way down the pecking order when it comes to their rather mediocre brand of hard rock. Top To Bottom<\/em> is a four-track EP which comes some three years after 2011 debut full-length opus Top Heavy<\/em>. <\/p>\n

The trio consists of vocalist \/ bassist Jaron Gulino \u2013 who, if you ask me, should spend more time concentrating on his other band Mach22 \u2013 drummer Danny Piselli (Fisthammer), and new guitarist Brian Davis. <\/p>\n

Now, the issue I have with this rather tepid release is its overall lack of punch. Considering there are only a handful of tracks on offer, none of them have the ability to stick to the ears and just kind of drift by harmlessly. My concern was that this EP would continue to feature the same faults which made their debut platter so unrewarding \u2013 vocals too loud, lack of stab in the guitar department, naff production \u2013 and it would seem that these flaws remain. Although the guitar tries so desperately to rule the roost, Gulino\u2019s rather dull, predictable tone dominates proceedings, and yet seems bereft of personality or oomph. <\/p>\n

This is bog standard heavy rock full of clich\u00e9s and an apparent \u201cparty-on\u201d atmosphere that never raises its head above a murmur. From the bass-lead \u2018No Shame\u2019 with its watery strut to the M\u00f6tley Cr\u00fce<\/a>-influenced stomp of \u2018Cold And Blue\u2019, Top To Bottom<\/em> suggests a band lacking ideas and invention \u2013 despite the occasional stirring leads and hard-hitting percussion. On Top are just another rock \u2019n\u2019 roll band fighting their way through the crowd, but a band who will get knocked back time and time again due to their lack of strength and shine. <\/p>\n

\u2018Don\u2019t Go\u2019 half-heartedly trundles in on a sleazy, yet basic riff while closer \u2018Bad Love\u2019 appears to be the only track that provides any sort of jab to the head, but it\u2019s still rock by numbers. With extremely average lyrics and a vocal yelp that just fails to move me, I just don\u2019t see On Top going anywhere fast.<\/p>\n

Top To Bottom<\/em> is a prime example as to why the metal genre at the moment is mostly stale; there are too many acts churning out unremarkable albums in their quest for rock \u2019n\u2019 roll rebellion, but what is clear is that a majority of these groups lack the songwriting prowess and technicality, let alone ideas, to create something above the mundane. I\u2019m relieved that On Top has only offered four tracks this time, because I don\u2019t think I could put up with another album of such ordinary detail.<\/p>\n

Neil Arnold<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

ON TOPTop To Bottom EP Horror Pain Gore Death Productions (2014)Rating: 4\/10 Philadelphia\u2019s On Top get no marks for their rather bland moniker, and to be honest are way down the pecking order when it comes to their rather mediocre brand of hard rock. Top To Bottom is a four-track EP which comes some three […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[24,1334],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-20533","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-album-ep-reviews","category-on-top"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20533","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=20533"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20533\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":20536,"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20533\/revisions\/20536"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=20533"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=20533"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=20533"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}