The Almost are back with their highly anticipated follow up to 2007's Southern Weather, Monster Monster. The Clearwater, FL quintet, most noted for being the side project of Underoath drummer Aaron Gillespie, have created a slick, crisp effort here that evolves their sound even further and presents a group that has matured immensely in a relatively short frame of time.

Leading off with the album's title track, the album gets off to a roaring start with its fierce, blasting guitars, pounding drums, and Aaron's fantastic vocals, which have reached higher octaves on this album. "Lonely Wheel" is an amazing song with its catchy chorus, melodic guitars, and fantastically well-written lyrics. "No I Don't" starts off as an acoustic opus, but then blends into a fierce rokcer that is very well arranged and performed. The album's first single, "Hands" is an upllifting mid-tempo rocker with an anthemic chorus that will have you singing along each time you hear it and also has fantastic drum work from their newest member Joe Musten, replacing original drummer Kenny Bozich, who left the group last year.

Continuing on, "Summer Summer" is a mid-tempo rocker with its strong willed guitars and deep, reflecting lyrics. "Hand Grenade" is a country tinged acoustic tune, and one of the more surprising, out of left field tunes on this album. Perhaps reflecting the group's southern upbringing on the album, it greatly enhances the home grown flavor of the album. "Souls on Ten" is a melodic, mid-tempo rocker with a mix of piano, crisp guitars, and Aaron's powerful and dynamic vocals leading the charge. Aaron has cemented himself as one of the most prominent and hardest working musicans in music today, juggling two roles as drummer of Underoath and frontman for The Almost when Underoath is on break from tour, you wonder if this guy ever sits down and takes a break from music for awhile. He has matured immensely from when he first started out with Underoath 10 years ago to where he is now with The Almost, and he shows no signs of slowing down any time soon.

My favorite track off the album is the disc's closing track, "Monster", a mid-tempo number that tones down the guitars and drums to a level where you sit and listen to a calm and soothing song and reflect on the amazing and well written songs that you've heard so far. Aaron's vocals sound as pristine as ever as he sings, "If I were a monster, would you wince when you looked at me?"

All in all, a fantastic and terrific follow up effort here from The Almost. Starting out as just as a side project for the time being, this band has amazing potential to become a full time effort for Aaron sometime down the road. But right now, he looks very comfortable and grounded with his dual roles as drummer and frontman, and he is a true inspiration to myself and tons of other people out there. Highly recommended!

                                                                                                                                                     Album Score: 4.5/5

Track Listing:

1. Monster Monster


2. Lonely Wheel


3. No I Don't


4. Hands


5. Young Again


6. Summer Summer


7. Hand Grenade


8. Books & Books


9. Souls on Ten


10. Want To


11. Get Through


12. Monster