Fresh sounding bands are always welcome.  Sleeping By The Riverside serves up some decent hardcore ala Strongarm or Stretch Arm Strong, with enough riff and tempo changes to keep things interesting.  While "Something To Say" is an excellent song, the other four fall short.  This is still a good indicator though, as the last four tracks were recorded in '97, while the first one was recorded in '98.  If the band can keep progressing, and write nine more songs like "Something To Say", they'll be something someday.

The other half of this split CD is by Carry The Dead, who serve up some average death metal with new school hardcore influences.  While the tradeoff death/hardcore vocals of "Ashes" is interesting, there really isn't anything new done to make the songs sound different.  While not bad, it's nothing great.  While production is ok, it lacks a low end punch, making the songs sound somewhat high and shrill at times.  While Sleeping By The Riverside seems to be on the road to improvement, Carry The Dead needs to tighten up their songwriting and further define their style some more.

Joe Rockstroh  10/17/99

for Sleeping By The Riverside
for Carry The Dead