Review: Benton Falls - Guilt Beats Hate

artist: benton falls album: guilt beats hate label: deep elm records released: by: rob tatum Guilt to Hate is the second full length album from California’s Benton Falls. Straying away from the usual Deep Elm sound, Benton Falls is an energetic trio combining elements of punk and emo into melody. This release is 10 songs long and clocks about 40 minutes. The first thing I noticed about Benton Falls, is the uncanny resemblance of vocalist Michael Richardson’s voice to that of the singer from the Counting Crows. It is really kind of scary. Fortunately for Benton Falls though, he uses it for more than just singing. If I didn’t know this band was a trio, I would have a hard time believing it from the recording. There is a lot of intricate guitar work and the music is really melodic. The lyrics cover a range of topics, and are quite good. Here’s a piece from “Defining the Warm-up”, ‘I’m scratching my eyes out trying to find you. It’s tearing my heart apart just waiting here. I’m passing your house by with no answer.’ I must say that this is nice change of pace from the typical Deep Elm release that I have grown accustomed to. I can’t say that Guilt to Hate is really special, but it is a solid effort that shows some good songwriting skills and potential. favorite song: "bitter by choice" rating: 77%/100% listen to benton falls