Salt the Earth - "Process of Breaking" EP
Anxiety Records

Lawrence's Salt the Earth brings the rock with their first release since their 2001 self-titled debut. The question, of course, is it worth the wait? I'm happy to say that the answer is a resounding "yes." The recording quality is heads and tails above their debut. Also, while only five songs, the whole EP smokes. It's certainly much easier to understand Marty's vocals, and the whole sound is much more crisp than before.

Salt the Earth's sound is much more subdued this go-around, and that's a good thing. The guitar work is much more intricate, or perhaps just more obviously so, since the tempo is downplayed a bit. There's still some shredding, so fans of the band's harder material need not worry. And it's not even that it's subdued, really. "Process of Breaking" has that same sense of urgency the self-titled record did, along with some blisteringly fast guitar work. It's just that there's a better combination of screaming and singing.

Process of Breaking has the potential to make Salt the Earth a little more familar to the kids who listen to Thrice and Thursday, and that's not a bad thing, by any means.