Another Rock/Alternative/Metal band. Again, saying that your band is “rock
alternative metal” is about as descriptive to me as saying that a book is “fiction”. The only times that I’d say a tag like that
applies is either to an act that genuinely crafts very new, unique trends (even then, “Avant-garde
metal/rock” is a bit more helpful) or to one that plays a bunch of different
genres.
However, admittedly, I’m not necessarily a genre
classification wizard myself. Their upcoming offering, Monuments, (follow that link to check out the songs released so far for that album, which are "Never Fall" and "On Your Knees" at the time of writing) probably has some sort of
perfect genre nomenclature that I’m just crap at identifying. I’d probably say
that the guitars are a bit more rhythmic, making them metalcore-esque, but
there are electronics/pianos backing and a female singer. It’s not very heavy at all, but occasionally
a slightly heavier baseline will creep in near the end of the song, and a man
occasionally sings a bit.
Really, the style and feel for this are far easier to pin
down. Monuments definitely going for an inspirational, epic feel, and I
guess I’d say it modestly succeeds. The
female singer’s emotional vocals backed by almost orchestral-sounding
arrangements and very toned-down guitars definitely sounds like they’re going
for some soaring prettiness here. For
the most part, this is a fairly well-produced album. The occasional electronic beats, instruments,
and the heavier guitars cutting in are timed well with the vocals, and most of
the songs have a definite buildup. Also,
the melodic guitars are quiet, but are fairly decent if you’re listening for
them. I generally like more in-your-face-stuff (and male singers), but this certainly may appeal to some people.
However, I have to say one thing: don’t just look at those
pretty songs if you want the range of their output. Honestly, I’m one of those people who enjoys
cheese and electronic beats way more than they should, so I find their
completely ridiculous “This is Paranoia” from their EP Panem Et Circenses far more enjoyable than, say, “Never Fall”, and certainly a lot more than I should. These guys know how to craft a decent rock/dancebeat,
what can I say? The almost Ke$ha-esque
vocals and almost-rapping that I hear is just kind of silly, painfully catchy, and is far more fun
to listen to than their serious higher-quality stuff like “Never Fall” on Monuments (there are even serious songs on Panem et Circenses).
Those few released songs for Monuments just kind of sound boring in
comparison. It’s like they kind of cut
out the male singer entirely, which is disappointing to me, as I like the
contrast he provides on songs like “Beware of Snakes”, even if he doesn't have pretty range like the woman does. He sounds like he’s got personality,
something which I find that a lot of music in the *insertwordhere*-core lacks,
especially in its male singers. She
sounds pretty (except when she’s doing her talk-singing stuff, in which case
she sounds like she’s doing an amusing Ke$ha impression), but he provides some fun
backup.
The more electronic-poppy songs probably
aren't very good, really, but they are way more infectious. I can’t help myself. Are they so bad it’s good? I don’t know.
That techno intro to “This is Paranoia” sounds pretty neat to the electronica
fan in me. That song will be stuck in my head forever now.
So yeah, I guess that I can say that this band slingshots schizophrenically
between being pretty/decent, being immensely amusing in a
guilty-pleasure way, and being just kind of eh (which some of their songs definitely are). Also, some of their
music videos are fun. I’d recommend actually
maybe listening to a bit of their stuff to see if it’s your thing if you like electronic-y rock stuff that isn't all that heavy. You may like it more if you’re not me (as I
don’t really like female singers as much, and I generally like my songs to be a bit heavier or a bit more technically skilled), or you might like it a hell of
a lot less. It helps that they don’t sound like they’re ten. Thus, at least from what I've heard so far, their new album is a more mature and higher quality piece of work from them (the serious songs I've heard are better than the serious songs from their last album), but I kind of wish for something as ridiculously silly and catchy as "This is Paranoia" to show up again, just for the lulz. They sound pretty, but not exactly in-your-face-omg-awesome. Perhaps someone who appreciates this kind of music more would like this, as it is decent, but it's not really my sort of thing.
(…maybe they’re electronicore? Maybe a touch of melodic metal? Okay, screw it, let’s just call them
rock/alternative metal.)
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