Highly reccommended for fans of the genre
I admit that, upon reading on Fall of Serenitiy's website that they "manage to unite Hardcore-Kids and Metalheads", I was all prepared to break out the sub five out of thirteen scores and bitch about the band, the genre and the general derth of quality music that any album which combines "metal" and "core" tends to feature. However, upon actually listening to 'Bloodred Salvation', I was left eating my as yet unwritten words. While they aren't my cup of tea, I will ungrudgingly admit that Fall of Serenity are actually pretty good.
I can't really say I enjoyed this album, but I didn't feel any anger, hate or crippling depression after hearing it, either. Touches like the pretty little synth intro to 'Dead Eyes' and the piano based instrumental that is the title track, added easy on the ear melodies without collapsing into typical metalcore cliches. There's little of the formulaeic, by numbers core that clutters up most music stores' metal sections, with things being mixed up enough to actually be interesting. Most of the time the vocals are nearer to death metal than the typical metalcore grunts, an aspect that combines with the album's memorable melodies to make 'Bloodred Salvation' a surprisingly pleasant listen.
The band keep the pace up throughout. It's an adrenaline fuelled rush through a variety of sounds, and songs such as 'As I Watch' with it's somewhat sinister opening riffs ensure that the listener's attention doesn't wander. The unexpected tempo change and turn for the melodic a third of the way through is nice, too - just when I thought it was going to be nothing but death core all the way through, things veer off in a completly different direction. As I've said before, there's none of your usual "heavy verse/melodic chorus/repeat for four minutes" nonsense here, so the stylistic changes actually come as a surprise, rather than a seeming inevitability.
The only problem I can really find with this German quintet (it seems the USA no longer has the monopoly of metalcore) is purely a matter of personal taste - I simply can't stomach their style of music. But they do what they do exceptionally well, and those who enjoy a little bit of 'core in their metal are sure to appreciate this more than I did. With the genre currently awash with identical and largely rubbish bands, it's heartening to hear both innovation (albeit hardly groundbreaking stuff for metal in general. It's all relative...) and quality music. The mix of guttural riffs and melodic harmonics, the generally competant vocals, and the reluctance to drift into cliches, all combine to make this a highly reccommended purchase for fans of the genre. As for me, I feel a little bit more enamoured towards this particular ill advised mix of genres, though I doubt I'll be spending my cash on any any time soon.