The latest offering from Los Angeles-based post-hardcore outfit From First To Last is not so much a departure as an unexpected evolution from their previous efforts. Their Aesthetic EP sounded like it had taken the standard pop-punk route that emo has been travelling down the past few years. Luckily, I was not introduced to the band via this record. Dear Diary, My Teen Angst Has A Bodycount was one of the catchiest, most refreshing recordings I had heard in a long time. Not content to stick with endless drivel about relationships, titles like I Liked You Better Before You Were Naked On The Internet and subject matter like being a cowboy in the Wild West made the group’s sophomore effort a winner.

Heroine takes the sounds of industrial, metal, hardcore, and post-hardcore and, together with Sonny Moore’s distinct vocals, brings something completely new to the table of this genre that has seen so much stagnation over the past few years. The album’s production is a step above their previous album. Filled with samples and beats that are technical and catchy all at once, these tunes are enough to suck you into another world. From the opening rumbles of Mothersound onward, the album is filled with a dark underlying rhythm section, courtesy of Derek Bloom’s menacing percussion punch and guest bassist Wes Borland’s nasty, gritty basslines. As the chaotic guitar break at the end of the opener should immediately indicate, shredders Matt Good and Travis Richter (who also gives Moore some growling help on the mic) are not here to mess around. In Afterbirth, Moore’s disturbing imagery of humble human beginnings overlays some intricate guitar work that is alternately metal and progressive, while The Crows Are Coming For Us is the sort of anti-anthem that we can all chant as the crows of this world look upon us with hungry eyes.

All in all, this album is refreshing enough that you don’t feel as if you have ever heard anything like it before, but catchy enough to be played over and over again.

Listen to this album. By morning your soul will be gone.