Record Review : Losing Vision - Damnation

I met the guys in Losing Vision through the old Florida message board I used to post on. They were relatively young at the time (I'd guess around 18 or so) and being the guy that I am, I checked out the demo they had on their Myspace. Needless to say, I wasn't that impressed. They sounded like they had potential but they had yet to find their direction. Jump ahead to last year, about this time in Philadelphia. The band was on tour and hanging out at This Is Hardcore. I hadn't met the guys in the band until that weekend but they were nice kids and were real excited to be out on tour. TJ, the singer, told me about the plans they had for the band in regards to touring. Again, I hadn't heard anything new. Fast forward one more time. Last month I saw the band play in Pembroke Pines with Crucified and I could tell they really had gotten their shit together. After they played, I told them I thought they played very well and they gave me a copy of their current release, Damnation.
The current trend over the past year or two is cassette tapes. Bands are releasing cassettes again. It blows my mind when I can't sell CDs that bands are releasing tapes...either way, this was released by Double Or Nothing Records and did include a download card for the 5 tracks. The cover of the release reminds of the Disney cartoon "Fantasia" and its excellent segment "Night on Bald Mountain". I'm all in favor of bands thinking outside of the hardcore box so thumbs up for going a different route.
Musically, Losing Vision reminds me alot of Integrity. They aren't trying to reinvent the wheel in any way, shape or form but they found their niche by channeling their inner Melnick's. The band includes solo's (with wah pedal) in just about every song, something I was very happy to hear. A good solo (and obligatory divebomb) can break up the usual verse/chorus repetition so its nice to hear that the band isn't afraid to show that they can shred. This release would fall somewhere in between "Systems Overload" and "Humanity Is The Devil" in terms of musical style. Vocally, TJ reminds me of Craig Mack from Living Hell. Gruff, hoarse yelling with lyrics dealing with apocalyptic visions. My favorite tracks were Eternal Sin and Oblivion (which has its fair share of metal parts and double bass) though the entire release is solid.
My only real gripe is I wish the mastering were a little better. The release is a little low but I understand its a cassette so it's not a big deal. Just something to think about in the future. Bottom line is the band is helping to put Florida hardcore back on the map and doing a fine job. Im looking forward to their next release, what ever it may be.