Drop Dead, Gorgeous

It doesn't matter if Be Mine, Valentine is described as emo, screamo or even Zima, for that matter. By any name, this six-track, twelve-minute-long EP is an assault on the senses -- the kind of disc that packs a wallop and leaves a mark.

Drop Dead, Gorgeous's size partly accounts for its sonic impact. The group is six players strong, with a pair of guitars and Aaron Rothe's keyboards contributing to a lethal din shaped by Fear Before the March of Flames producer Kris Crummett, one of the genre's local experts. Just as important, though, are Danny Stills's vocals, which vacillate between feverish shrieks and guttural growls on "Bullets are Scene," an aural firefight that bleeds into the appropriately aggressive "Knife Vs. Face: Round 1." Guess who wins that fight.

Timid romantics should steer clear of the Gorgeous guys' mini-salvo. After all, this isn't an ordinary Valentine.