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Remember the stir that Further Seems Forever made when they first came on the scene, playing a brand of emo/rock that few bands had experimented with to that point. The Pits follow in the tradition of that kind of musical excitement, but with even more intensity. In fact, The Pits make Further Seems Forever look like a boy band.

What The Pits bring on their debut full-length Rational Order is a CD full of blistering tracks, set to complex tempos, rampant guitars and the necessary amount of singing in conjunction with screaming. This is music for those who are looking for a high level of intensity and talent. These are the elements that The Pits bring to the table. 

The album opens up with the almost instrumental "The Man Inside Me Has No Name (Part 1)". The song builds and sets just the right mood for the band to blast into "Sweet Lips". "Carte De Emancipation" does a nice job of tricking the listener into thinking they're about to hear some typical emo fare before blasting that idea out of the water.

Thankfully, through the course of Rational Order The Pits show that they can do more than just rock out. They can also create a few ballads to draw the listener in. "Loosing Grip" is the best example of this. The band even plays the acoustic "Summer Baby" mid way through the CD. 

The album's weak point comes in the vocals. The singer's voice is not developed to the point where he can hit all the notes he needs to. At most times, however, it hardly seems to matter. The weakness in the vocals often seems to provide a nice contrast to the relentless rock sounds in drums and guitar. It's a problem that the band does well at working around.

Without a doubt, The Pits are one of the best new bands around. They're heading around the country soon, giving everyone the opportunity to see what all the buzz is about. For those who like a band to rock them, The Pits can get the job done quite nicely.

Trae Cadenhead 7/22/2003