Re-invigorated is the word that comes to mind when listening to the new record from New York screamo crew From Autumn To Ashes. The loss (or firing) of former vocalist Ben Perri seems to have been the best thing for the band, as drummer Fran Mark has stepped up and taken over as frontman for the band. And being that he previously handled all the clean vocals for the band in the first place, it was quite fitting for him to step into the role of main vocalist. His screams are more rasps than actual screams, but it fits better with the band's overall sound, and what is trying to be achieved.

The album, while not being anything groundbreaking, is a solid screamo release for FATA, considering their last two outings were leaning more toward emo than actual screamo.  The sound is reminiscent of Evergreen Terrace at times, only the heavy parts are nowhere near as heavy. Fortunately, they manage to maintain a decent amount of metallic riffing and aggression throughout the album, which will hopefully keep them from being compared to the likes of Hawthorne Heights.

"Holding A Wolf By The Ears' is an extremely catchy album, with melodic guitarwork and near pop soaked clean choruses throughout the album. The band does however mix things up well, bringing in some metallic elements in the basic riffing, and in direct contrast to all the clean vocals, there is still an equal amount of screaming going on. 

This seems to be a great fresh start for From Autumn To Ashes. After two rather lackluster releases prior to this album, it's great to hear them finally put out something that's actually has some energy to it. Coming close to being as unequivocally boring as Deftones is never a good thing. Fortunately, From Autumn To Ashes has had new life breathed into it, and are heading in the complete opposite direction. And that is definitely a good thing.