Texas quartet Flyleaf's debut album leaps out of your speakers like an Avril Lavigne that's been possessed and going through an Exorcist style exorcism - spitting bile, clawing and scary as hell.

Supporting Korn on a 10 day UK tour, the band's sound is a subtle mix of Lavigne style vocals (a bit more foul mouthed and edgy, naturally) with a thundering powerhouse hard rock riffs that would shatter plate-glass.

Broody, atmospheric and aggressively charged it's a winning formula for fans of the genre. Harder hitting than the likes of Evanescence, but nevertheless with an undeniable commercial twist, you can see exactly why it's already shifted over a million copies in the States.

As you might expect, the songs are about abuse, neglect, addiction, dysfunction and adversity. But lets face it, no one serves this stuff up better than our American cousins. Call me a sceptic, but there's a wonderfully subtle commercial element to the band's sound aimed, no doubt, to give them a more universal appeal.

And to prove they're no one trick ponies, the album closes with acoustic versions of 3 tracks, which if you're not in the mood to have your senses bludgeoned demonstrates that there's some real substance here.

***½

Review by Pete Whalley