Your Memorial: Redirect
Posted July 18, 2012
By TCMRB,
Your Memorial is arguably one of Facedown Records' heaviest bands. When I saw them on the Scream The Prayer Tour about a month ago (check out my review here), I was blown away by the heaviness of their breakdowns, as well as by the killer vocals done by Blake Earring. He has a super low and menacing voice - perfect for a hardcore act that is as heavy as they are. One of the main reasons I was so blown away by their live show was the fact that I was less than impressed by their last album, Atonement - their Facedown debut. The album was subpar in my opinion; it just did not measure up to my standards for good hardcore music. After seeing them live though, I became very excited to hear Redirect and see if it is as good as their live performance.
Redirect is a stellar album, from a band that I have now fallen in love with. The album has three purely instrumental tracks, as well as an opening track that is only instrumentals accompanied by preaching. I love those instrumental tracks, but that also means there are only seven full-on metal tracks. With that in mind, the album becomes a lot shorter than it actually is (it clocks in at about 39 minutes). So, I would say the brevity of the album is probably my biggest complaint. (Why is that all the good albums are so short, but the mediocre ones seem to be super long?) One thing that surprised me about Redirect is that even though the album is so heavy - possibly one of the heaviest of the year - there are still some very melodious parts throughout the record. Songs like "Transform" have killer clean vocals that really round out the album very well.
The album opener, "Transfiguration" may possibly be my favorite intro track on a metal album ever. The instrumentals are very soft and soothing - not what you would expect on an album that is so heavy. I love the everything that the preacher talks about, and it really sets a calming mood on the album. The title track comes next, and is a perfect way to introduce the heaviness of the band, but it also does a great job of showing how well they execute the clean vocals. The song, and really the whole album, is asking Christ to redirect our steps and put us back on the path He wants for us. The closing lines of the song I think perfectly represent what Your Memorial is trying to say through the whole album, "My life is Yours. You set the pace. You are worthy of all my praise."
"Shipwreck," which I believe was the first single from the album, is one of my favorite songs on the album. The guitar riffs are spectacular, and the whole premise of the song is great. Earring talks about how life without God is a losing battle, a shipwreck. He calls out to God, asking Him to be his anchor and to bring him back to a firm faith in Christ.
The seventh track, "Transform," I believe, is one of the most melodious tracks on the album. Major parts of the song are given to the clean vocals, and I love how natural the whole song feels. Some metal bands try to use clean vocals and they come off sounding forced and weird, but Your Memorial - and on this song in particular - they do a really good job of it; it just naturally seems to flow with their music. "Anthem" then follows that up with a pretty sweet song, that is possibly one of my favorite songs on the whole record. The song perfectly blended their heavy style with some great melodic parts, to form, what I feel, is a spectacular song. After "Anthem," though, the album drastically slows down. "...Evidence of Things Unseen" and "Cadence For a King" are both instrumentals that serve to slow it down, and a lot of "Trial and Triumph" is instrumental as well. These last three tracks are a great way to end a fantastic album; and are a good time to really reflect on everything they talked about in each of the songs. I think that may be why I love instrumentals on metal albums so much, because they give you time to really reflect on everything they said.
Your Memorial have really surprised me over the past month. They went from being one of those mediocre metal bands - in my mind - to being one of my favorites. I love this band and I love the message they bring in each of their songs. After seeing them live, I was not only impressed by their sound, but also in the way they act on and off the stage. You can tell they truly want to glorify Christ in everything they do, and that is why I have come to like them as much as I do. There are not very many bands that will get on stage and pray in the middle of their set, but they did; and that impressed me more than anything they else they did. Redirect is an album you do not want to miss. It is not perfect by any means, but I am very impressed by it and I am excited to see what these guys do next. I highly recommend checking this album out if you love metal; and I would definitely encourage you to go out and see them perform live. I have a feeling you will not be disappointed.
Favorite Song: Redirect
This review has been reprinted on NRT with permission from The Christian Music Review Blog. Click here to visit today! View All Music And Book Reviews By TCMRB | View TCMRB's Profile
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