You know a lot of times it’s not what you know or how much but it’s whom you know. In this case it’s my wife Stephanie’s church of goodie two-shoes. Yeah the drummer Matt for DOWNCAST THEORY goes to my church and just happens to also be in DOWNCAST THEORY. You know the story… "Oh my husband is the owner of a music website…” / "Oh really, well we have a CD…" and you'll never guess who ends up with it. Yep, Me! No big deal, but just because you go to church with my wife and you're in a band doesn’t mean a good review!

Anyway, let’s get to the meat of it. DOWNCAST THEORY is a clan of youths trying to make a name for themselves, which is not the easiest thing to do especially in New Jersey the tax state! The boys play hard-edged, raw aggressive rock in the vein of another former NJ band named LOWBUZ. The opening track “Break Away” is pummeling with some kicking lyrics and some great hooks. They could tune down the reverb a bit but it does give some essences to the tune.

Another riveting tune that kicks it up is “Prayer”. It starts off melodic and a few seconds into the song combustions ignited. The vocals by Mathew Simon conjure up images of SHINEDOWN and GODSMACK and the slicing guitar by Jake Raynor is the perfect touch to make this a quality track.

“Change of Pace” is highlighted by the midsection of drummer Raundawg and bassist Kenny Earl which play the part to perfection. I also loved the screams by Simon that gives the vocal cords a workout.

I was wondering when these boys were going to come back down to earth after eight full throttle tunes. Now they are showing some class with “Forgive Me.” I knew these boys could rock, but could they change direction? Well they show that with “Forgive Me". This is the highlight tune for me! The song shows good balance from aggressive to a great rocking song. The breaks from hard-edged to classic rock are evident with success.

And they go even further with “A Song for DJ” that is another killer tune. Acoustics are drawn and heads are up showing these boys are no fly by night garage band. “A Song for DJ” really shows the talent of DOWCAST THEORY. Anyone can plug in and hit the distortion but when it comes down to it, if you can write and play songs like “Forgive Me” and “A Song for DJ” other bands will be looking to knock you off the pedestal, only finding out the talent is within…

I really enjoyed DOWNCAST THEORY’s “Damaged Calm” which to me is a breathe of fresh air. I loved the direction change in tunes and the slight touches of piano by Raundawg that is not overly predominant. I can’t wait to hear the next release to see if these boys can move forward. This is a keeper!