If you ever find yourself trying to hunt down the greatest Hard Rock records of the last half-decade, you'd be a fool not putting Trail of Dead's 2002 opus Source Tags and Codes near the top of the list. If there was a "how to become your favorite Screamo band" handbook, almost certainly Source Tags would need to be one of the main chapters. That in itself made it all the more disappointing when the band's follow up, Worlds Apart was one of the most colossal flops of last year. Worlds was (justifiably) torn to shreds by critics who thought lead man Conrad Keeley was suffering from a staggering bout of writers block and fans who figured they smelled a band selling out to the pressures of a radio-hit hungry major label - Interscope.

So Divided is Trail of Dead's quick turn around from Worlds Apart and maybe never has there been an album so aptly titled because this album will have more than its fair share of objectors. If you consider yourself a fan of the Dead's first three albums that were dedicated to a Post-Punk music direction and screaming-style vocals, then you may want to get up from the proverbial table and walk away now.

On the other hand, for those who are willing to open their minds to a band that has no interest in being pigeonholed into their former sound, So Divided is one of the most outright pleasant surprises of the year. Keeley and company have completely transformed themselves into a band that is part Cursive, part Death Cab For Cutie/Shins and part Decemberists (when Meloy and company are in their Crane Wife/Prog-Rock mode.)

What a shock to find Keeley earnestly singing heartfelt lyrics over piano and African Drum beats on "Wasted State of Mind" or covering Guided By Voices' Bee Thousand classic "Gold Heart Mountain Top Queen Directory" with such vigor. Listening to Keeley play a Jump-Blues style on "Naked Sun" is completely stunning and The Kinks' Muswell Hillbillies-style sound on "Witch's Web" is a knockout. The only moment of So Divided that doesn't work is the closer "Sunken Dreams" that tries to be epically dark in the vein of The Cure. That one just didn't seem to fit with the mold of the rest of the record. But all in all, So Divided is an album that no one could have possibly seen coming and I promise that if you venture into it free of preconceptions, you'll come away as impressed as I did.