siLLy puPPy With virtually no info to be found, the metalcore band CRUCIFIX DOLL seems to be a mystery. What is known is that this band that consisted of Kalen Chase [Kalen Musmecci] (vocals), Branden Krull (keyboards), Dan Johnson (guitar), Tyson Strom (bass) and Dan Faraci (drums) formed in 1998 in the Eastern Washington town of Colville but once formed moved to Hollywood, CA where they supposedly still are together however in the year 2020 the band has only released one album titled FUCK THIS FLOWER.

This band’s one and only album that consists of 13 tracks seems to be heavily influenced by not only the extreme caustic sounds of metalcore but also the progressive hardcore band The Mars Volta especially with the vocal style of Kalen Chase whose clean vocals are a dead ringer for TMV’s Cedric Bixler-Zavala. Another unusual feature of CRUCIFIX DOLL is that this is metalcore that also uses keyboards so there are lots of atmospheric backdrops as well as some direct usages. Most of these keyboard parts are reserved for not only background ambience but also for the scant moments when the metalcore breaks and a moment of piano or other non-metal style comes into play.

During the non-metal moments the sound can remind of not only The Mars Volta but in a distant way Linkin Park and other nu metal acts. Even Korn comes to mind once in a while and of course considering that the band formed in the late 90s and released this one and only album in 2005, makes a lot of friggin sense. Unfortunately the band wears these influences on its sleeves just a tad too prominently and most of the time i’m thinking that this could’ve easily been some sort of demo recording that occurred between the At The Drive-Inn post-punk days and the more progressive The Mars Volta.

Due to The Mars Volta influences, this is actually quite the melodic metalcore album with not only piano / vocal performances but strong pop hooks that make this probably a more appealing album to fans of the nu metal scene than actual diehard metalcore freaks. Ultimately this band exudes an innocence of a newbie band that has yet to figure out its own course but obviously that didn’t really happen considering the fact that another album never followed. While on the road to becoming a bonafide progressive metalcore kind of band in the vein of Between The Buried And Me, for whatever reason this band ceased to produce new material. At times CRUCIFIX DOLL seems unsure where it wants to go and hasn’t figured out how to weave all the elements on board together but in the end it’s not a bad album either. Unfortunately it’s not great either.