by Stewart Mason

In the late '80s, Faith No More replaced their technically limited lead singer Chuck Mosely after two albums, installing the far more gifted and expressive Mike Patton and thereby taking the band into far more wide-ranging and experimental arenas than they could have previously explored. Well, that doesn't quite happen with the second album by Wisconsin screamo outfit Misery Signals: new lead singer Karl Schubach is neither particularly different from nor particularly superior to original vocalist Jesse Zaraska. This time, it's the band that seems to have stepped up their game. Where the debut Of Malice and the Magnum Heart seemed to force together the band's metal and math rock influences, Mirrors is considerably more fluid in its blend of aggression and time-signature trickery. Technically impressive dual-guitar countermelodies balance the preponderance of heavy unison riffs, while drummer Branden Michael Morgan displays considerably more variety than the average double-time beats. Famous friends alert: the chorus of the single "One Day I'll Stay Home" is sung by Fall Out Boy's Patrick Stump.