I was first introduced to the "band" Escape the Fate at the Black on Black tour, a couple years ago. I had never heard of Escape the Fate before and after that show I wish I hadn't. Don't get me wrong, Escape the Fate is okay if you're into that kind of music (post- hardcore/screamo/grind-core), whatever you want to call it, but for me It's very rare that I like a band from that genre. Ever since that show I never heard from that band again until recently when my friend Thomas played me a song from their new album, which was the title track, "This War is Ours." I have to be honest when I say I loved it. It was heavy, it was brutal, it was technical, it had some outstanding sweep picking solos, and the vocals were even pretty decent. It was everything I could want in a song, all rapped up in a neat little package. I knew from that moment that I had to buy that CD, and a few days ago I did. Did I like it? Well... let me just say that if you're gonna shell out 15 dollars for a cd, be sure you're either A) already a huge fan of the band, or B) you've at least heard more than 5 songs off that album beforehand.
The album was utter sh*t! Never before have I tried so quickly to get rid of an album I had recently purchased. I mean for God-sakes, even "Plagues" lasted 2 months before I got sick of it. So before any of you Escape the Fate fans start bashing me for not liking the album I'm going to be fair and give my reasons for not liking it, I'll even go out of my way to talk about some things I did like, though there are few.
First off, and let this be a lesson to all of you, just because you hear one song off an album that you like, or you think is creative, doesn't mean the rest of the album is going to be like that. I've done this several times now where I've purchased CDs based on only hearing one song (Minutes to Midnight, Eat Me Drink Me, Avenged Sevenfold, etc). Now some of those albums surprised me and I did end up liking them, but not this one, there is little to like here. The songs are nothing more than a bunch of recycled and bland hardcore/punk riffs, slapped together with what I guess are supposed to be edgy vocals, and a thrown in guitar solo here and there. It's nothing I haven't heard before, and done way better than this, so it's not very creative. There are maybe one or two moments in a couple of the songs where they do something interesting with their guitar work, but even so, those moments just seem overshadowed by the rest of the song. It's like the guitarist had a genuine moment of inspiration and creativity and then went back to strumming the same generic power chords again and again to the point where the repetition just gives you a headache. And since we're on the subject of unoriginality, there are no original lyrics on this CD, save for 2 songs. Every song is either about a girl that broke the singer's heart, or it's about not having a girl he's in love with, or it's about a girl that gets him through his dreary life, and I'm thinking to my self "COME ON MAN! You're in a band that has million's of fans, a good portion of which are girls, and you could have anyone of them at the drop of a hat, and you want to bitch to me about some chick that more than likely dumped you in high school?" Do any of you have that friend who wont stop talking about his ex, and how much he misses her and how much he wants her back. Well that's pretty much what this album is. Oh and I almost forgot to talk about the vocals on the album, sung by none other than Craig Mabbit, former singer for BlesstheFall, which oddly enough, was the band I went to see at the Black on Black tour. Now the one thing I always hated about this style of music were the vocals. To me they sound too whiny, too high pitched, and lead me to question whether or not these singers were castrated at a young age like the boy sopranos back in the good ol' days of theatre. But Craig's vocals never bothered me for some reason, in fact I rather liked them. They had an operatic quality that I could appreciate and that's why Blessthefall was such a kick-ass band in my mind. With that said, I don't know what the f**k happened to him. Craig's vocals are terrible on this album, save for one song. It's like he got face-raped before going into the recording studio, and didn't bother to wash out his mouth afterwards. I was very disappointed. I hoped that I could at least get the BlesstheFall experience on this CD with him on lead vocals, but I was mistaken. There's a line in one the songs where he sings, "Cut it out of my mouth, put my tongue on pole, I won't sing anymore..." I know he was just using poetic irony but seriously this needs to happen to him after this album!
Well, no more cons, time for the pros (What I liked). All in all this cd maybe has two or three songs worth checking out (Download them off iTunes). "This War is Ours," is a definite, and the other two would have to be "The Flood," which is pretty entertaining, and "It's Just Me," which is kind of a creepy jazz like song. In my opinion the whole CD should of been like these songs. They're the only ones that are creative, that have nothing to do with bullsh*t relationships, and have semi decent vocals, especially "This War is Ours," which has some of the best death metal screams I've ever heard. Another thing to like are the guitar solos on this CD, though there aren't many, and not on two of the songs I recommended. Their guitarist is definitely talented, and it kills me that he comes up with such bland unimaginative riffs, but awesome badass guitar solos, that really don't fit well with the rest of the song.
I'll give this album a D minus. It's barely passing, just a notch above "F**k this CD!" If you're an Escape the Fate fan, what am I gonna tell you, you're gonna bash me for not liking the album and giving my honest opinion, you're gonna go out and buy it, and probably f**king love it just because it's Escape the Fate, but if you're not a fan, if you're like me and is into good, well thought out, creative music, don't buy this CD, it'll just be a waste of time and money.
Well that's it for my review. I'll have a review up for "With Roots Above and Branches Below," by The Devil Wears Prada, next week, and I hope you'll stop by to read it.
KEEP IT HEAVY EVERYONE!!!
- Joseph Buehrer