Really two EPs spliced together — its first four songs are brand new, while its final five were originally issued in 2000 as the Private Conflicts and Suicides EP — Love, Murder and a Three Letter Word served to announce the resurrection (second or third at this stage) of Texas metalcore pretenders Society's Finest. An extremely competent ensemble still looking for a firm direction, the group seems to be wavering between the technically outrageous arrangements currently in vogue in the metal underground, and old-school hardcore's simpler charms. To wit, songs like "Vanity and the Gun" and "Ennis, TX" clearly flirt (rather unconvincingly, one should note) with the fringes of math metal mayhem; and it's more straightforward, groove-built numbers like "Pop Culture in Houston" and "The Art...the Morgue" that find the band most at ease. Neither one of these styles is the dominant as you move into that original 2000 EP's final five tracks; these take a slower, dirge-metal approach with their riffs, which while perhaps not as explosive or exciting, definitely find a better balance for it. Lacerated vocals punctuate hateful offerings like "A Cold Winter's Morning," "Eggshell," and "Zero-Nine-Three-Zero," as they finally bring some truth to the band's "So beautiful but filled with so much hate" motto. All of which suggests that, if they don't break up again, Society's Finest would do well to review the past in order to find their future.

Texas hardcore metal band Society's Finest is a working-class band. The quintet was comprised of vocalist Josh Ashworth, bassist Joel Bailey, guitarists Rob Pruett and Kris McCaddon, and drummer Chad Wilburn, who all have various day jobs, but also rocked things out on their debut The Journey...So Far, released in May 2000 on Solid State. Various lineup changes plagued the band over the years and they went on hiatus in 2003, during which Ashworth toured with Zao. Society's Finest eventually reformed and signed with Hand of Hope Records; the label released Love, Murder, and a Three Letter Word in mid-2004, which contained new songs and ones from their 2000 EP Private Conflicts and Suicides. Their darkly intense full-length And I, The Drunkards followed in June 2006 to critical praise.