...In Shallow Seas We Sail
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Emery As the follow-up to last year’s 8-song EP, While Broken Hearts Prevail, the latest from Emery can best be summed up as a morality tale, with far-from-subtle warnings about lust, jealousy, immature relationships...
Lost in the Sound of Separation
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Underoath I don’t know what Underoath would have to have done to make their latest release a five-star record, but I do know that they definitely didn’t find it. That’s not to say the record isn’t a good one – which...
The music has mellowed and matured to a fresh, folk-friendly depth, not unlike a well-crafted batch of bourbon. | Posted August-24-2009
The key to possibly ever appreciating It’s All Crazy! It’s All False! It’s All a Dream! It’s Alright is for you to forget everything you ever thought you may have known about mewithoutYou. The band has seemingly tossed out all traces of Fugazi and Slint, the angst-ridden bleating of Aaron Weiss, and the frenetic, post-core pacing of its songs, and yet this is still most assuredly a mewithoutYou record. Lyrically, Aaron seems more Franciscan than ever, choosing to balance the passion of Donne with the pastoral pictures of Whitman, while the music has mellowed and matured to a fresh, folk-friendly depth, not unlike a well-crafted batch of bourbon. One could easily attribute these shifts to the production hand of Daniel Smith (of Danielson fame), as layered percussion, mandolins, horns and keys make their way onto the record, but these organic changes sound totally unforced and are quite welcome. Admittedly, there are times when I miss the emotional, rip-out-my-heart-to-watch-it-bleed fury of Catch For Us The Foxes, but with examples like “The Angel of Death Came to David’s Room,” “Fig With a Bellyache,” and “Allah, Allah, Allah” on hand, you’d be hard-pressed to claim that mewithoutYou still doesn’t know how to create meaningful music. [Tooth & Nail] Adam P. Newton
This review has been reprinted on NRT with permission from HM Magazine. Click here to visit HMMagazine.com today!
In Shallow Seas We Sail | Posted August-24-2009
As the follow-up to last year’s 8-song EP, While Broken Hearts Prevail, the latest from Emery can best be summed up as a morality tale, with far-from-subtle warnings about lust, jealousy, immature relationships and the risk of making an idol of one’s “love.” “I fell apart when I fell for you,” states the title song, and as one tends to expect in this cliche-ridden fairy tale of needing love more than living in loving ways, it turns out badly. So badly that the closing emphasis, “Dear Death,” comes in two parts. One is evidently not enough. Lacking depth and a sympathetic narrative, it’s hard to hear five angry young men denouncing failed love in music that longs for the climactic rage that this kind of “post-hardcore” seems designed to unleash, and not hear this as misogynistic, or at the very least anti-romantic. After 22 years of marriage it would be silly to say I can relate to the emotional nastiness that Seas We Sail aims for, but I have to admit they warn you up front that their approach will remain “shallow.” Musically, they fare better than they do lyrically. Going back and forth between full-throated metal roaring rage and a more melodic sing-songy approach of the average emo band … which may be the point; to reveal the inane cliches in emo’s deification of love. Unfortunately, they fail to acknowledge the inane cliches of modern post-hardcore metal. They, and the music, would benefit from greater complexity, and an appreciation for the subtleties that any honest appraisal of a fully engaged loving human relationship always requires. [Tooth & Nail] Brian Quincy Newcomb
This review has been reprinted on NRT with permission from HM Magazine. Click here to visit HMMagazine.com today!
Review Of Define The Great Line | Posted September-03-2008
I don’t know what Underoath would have to have done to make their latest release a five-star record, but I do know that they definitely didn’t find it. That’s not to say the record isn’t a good one – which it is – but it seems like it’s just another notch in a bedpost. In the past, Underoath has come strong with pushing the envelope and being ahead of the curve in their genre.
Back in the day, the metal Underoath gave way to the metalcore Underoath in They’re Only Chasing Safety, a move that catapulted them to the top of their game and gave them immense recognition. When they put out Define The Great Line, they experimented a bit with instrumental tracks to mixed results, but they continued to do well, leaning on the edge of that cliff.
And now, with Lost in the Sound of Separation, they seem to have reverted to a version of They’re Only Chasing Safety and not dangled their feet over the cliff, ready to jump. Everything you’d expect from an Underoath record is still there: catchy lyrics and chants, breakdowns, a spastic flurry of guitar riffs and drumming. They re-visit the ethereal vibe of some of the tracks on Define The Great Line, such as in the middle of the song "Too Bright To See" through to the end – it’s less the metalcore Underoath you know and more set-the-mood metal; the obligatory end-of-the-CD instrumental "Desolate Earth" also follows suit.
They still bring the heaviness as well – tracks such as the "Anyone" and "We Are The Involuntary" are particularly punishing – but at the same time, I feel like I’ve heard the songs before. While this isn’t always a bad thing, Underoath have set their bar so high, I was expecting either a complete change of direction or songs that would physically push me out of my seat. In the midst of the Underoath career, the record feels like it’s going to be forgettable. It’s like that one year in school where you felt like you did a lot, but couldn’t exactly put a finger on what was so significant about it.
This review has been reprinted on NRT with permission from HM Magazine. Click here to visit HMMagazine.com today!
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