Shapeshifter

Personnel: Craig Mabbitt (vocals); Alex Torres (guitar); Chris Julian (drums).
With a furious and dense sound, Craig Mabbitt's side project the Dead Rabbitts make their full-length debut on Shapeshifter. The follow-up to the band's 2012 EP, Edge of Reality, the album finds the Escape the Fate frontman delivering an album of maximalist metalcore, filling every conceivable space with monstrous guitars, ethereal synths, and his own soaring/savage vocals. With so much going on, it would be easy to get lost in the songs, but the Dead Rabbitts keep the songwriting fairly direct, keeping each song moving forward to prevent the album from becoming a series of impossible musical mazes. If you're a fan who hoped that Mabbitt would someday return to the sound of blessthefall and the Word Alive, Shapeshifter is the album you've been pining for. ~ Gregory Heaney