The perfect CD to say goodbye to..?
Ah. The good old post hardcore/screamo/emo combination. A tricky business, that. Getting it right I mean. There's no room for mistakes there- A precise art as it were...
Hmm... If only! It seems nowadays any band is free to roam around screeching into a microphone and drumming out the same old same old guitar riffs and drum thrashes. Now for a start, the lead vocalist Robert Darling is capable of screaming really, really hard before going really soft. A good album isn't always made up of talk about angels and other highly emotional things. But there are some positive things- lets make this constructive people because it's not all bad.
Opener 'Preamamble' did at first make me a little scared, I have to admit. I did find myself cautiously looking over my shoulder trying to see who the devil this scary man was screaming at. Once he calmed himself down he did manage to deliver some nice vocals (How about "I'm ripping my eyes out" for some smashing emo goodness)!
'The Arson' begins in the same manner- melting again into a really nice call and response vocal turn. This is probably my favourite track on the album, which by no means marks it as excellent because it is simply better than the rest.
By and large, when this man stops making my ears bleed it actually sounds rather nice. This is the kind of emo I can stand, even enjoy! It's only when we get into the screamo side of things that it makes me feel I really just don't want to listen to them anymore. That's just my personal taste, but this is a tried and tested formula.