ION INDIE MAGAZINE July 2017, Volume 38 | Page 76

very well. The blend of Wright’s melodic vocals with the screams of LG THOMPSON made this my immediate favorite track on the CD on the first listen through. “Velma” comes as close to “slowing it down” as it will get on this offering from Inwood’s favorite sons. It is by no standards a ballad. It still has heavy guitars, driving drums, melodic vocals, at times, rap-like qualities that are hard to give an accurate description of in writing. It truly requires a CD player in the car and the volume nearly maxed out to wrap your head around. “109 th ” the fifth and final track of [cntrl], continues the trend of the unpredictably that defines Defending Cain. It seems that the vocals of Wright shine through the melodies and are a very fitting wrap on what can and should be considered a fantastic blend of different genres of music thrown into not one album -- but throughout the same song. I make no apologies for saying Defending Cain is one of my favorite independent bands. The music they have put out on their three albums, “Elements”, “The Perception” and now with [cntrl], can stand strong with anything out there in today’s music world. While I know from our past conversations, they are content being the “big fish in a little pond”, I can’t help but feel that much of the country is being denied the privilege of seeing one of the best bands that I have heard and seen in the last 5 years, bar none. You cannot comfortably place this band into a genre. If you see them live, you will leave shaking your head saying, “I’m not sure what the hell that was, but wow, I loved it!” What you will find -- if you ever have a chance to see them and meet them -- are two things: They not only are great musicians, they are great people…and secondly, they love to eat almost as much as I do. Discover more about this exceptional band at: www.defendingcain.com Show them some love at: www.facebook.com/DEFENDINGCAIN