'The Word Made Flesh' is easily one of the best ep's from an unsigned act to make it into the inbox recently. Musically, they hit everything from thrash to melodic death, and with the aggressive lead vocals being handled by Alexis Brown, they fall very much into the same class as that of  In This Moment.

Vocally, while it's not quite death, Alexis hits the mark with her screams, and can easily stand on her own amongst metal's aggro male vocalists. On the flip side, she also possesses a soaring clean vocal style, which provides a great contrast to her screams. Another factor that further sets Alexis and co apart from the likes of In This Moment and most other female fronted bands, is that they do actually incorporate guttural dual death metal vocals into the mix, making things that much more intense. And unlike Arch Enemy's Angela Gossow, the dual death vocals stand out more than her monotone Carcass worship vocal style.   

Musically, Seth's guitar style is more in line with the staccato chugging of Machine Head and Chimaira, than the God Forbid/Shadows Fall melodicthrashmetalcore stylings of In This Moment. It's not until the final track "Walking Dead" that Straight Line Stitch kicks into high gear midway through the song, with drummer Patrick Haynes pounding out some blast beats while Seth brings in some blackened guitar stylings. It's a very clean shift though, and only serves to add another element to the band's already crushing sound.

While comparison's to In This Moment (and possible Crisis) are inevitable, Straight Line Stitch does in fact have their own sound and style that will help to set them apart. Alexis has a clean vocal style that is completely her own. She doesn't sound like another Cristina Scabbia rip off, nor does she sound anything like any other female vocalists that are currently at the forefront of the metal scene. And that in itself is a VERY good thing.

Straight Line Stitch are one of those bands that end up being made known to you by: (a) word of mouth (b) a select website, or (c) randomly catching them at a live show with a national act on the bill. And after hearing them, it will make you wonder why no one has picked them up yet. Despite the state of the industry, record labels would do themselves a favor by taking a serious look at this band.