Dresden- Final Hour

When I first heard Wartorn, I instantly disliked it.  The same went for Dresden.  Strangely enough, the moment I saw both bands live (who share members) I was totally impressed with the power each band conveys in a live setting.  In both cases, I bought their records immediately.  Subsequent listens of the records in question left me less and less interested each time. 

I decided to pull out this Dresden LP since I hadn't heard it in quite some time, and I was in the mood to listen to some heavy apocalyptic crust.  I was comfortably seated in my chair reading a book that I haven't had a lot of time to enjoy, but I found this record so drab that I wanted to get up and shut it off halfway through the A side.  It seems weird that a band could come across so well live, and then come off so blah on their record.  Here's the thing- the song structures are actually pretty good/ interesting, but there are never any stand-out riffs, and it's devoid of any inflection or emotion in the way it's played.  All of that is not the case live, however.  All of the songs are played just barely fast enough to lose some of the power it'd otherwise have, and somehow the heaviness that I know is intended doesn't translate well. 

If Dresden were playing tomorrow down the street, I'd go, but this record might not survive my next purge.  The biggest issue here, and the reason I bothered to commit my opinions, is that I want to like this record.  It's just not happening.