Review Summary: The Breakdown Emporium is open for business… This is not a bad thing. Actually its awesome!!!!
The first time I heard this album it was played by my roommate (AtomicShane), and immediately I was interested. Who was this band? They demonstrated a decent amount of talent for a band with little to no popularity what so ever. I was skeptical to how well the rest of the album would be but in the end I was shocked. Every aspect of this album demonstrates to the listener that this band is here to stay.
The very first song I listened to was “When Silence Breaks” and I was speechless. I love breakdowns and this song demanded that I needed clean underwear by the end of it. If nothing else, listen to this song. The incorporation of keyboard piano blew my mind. The result of this was my head furiously shaking while driving (which is no easy feat). One thing I will call attention to is the amount of breakdowns that are used in this song and mostly every song on this album.
The breakdowns on this album are nothing short of awesome. Each have their own special tweak reminding the listener, “this is Breakdown of Sanity mother F*CKER!” But on a serious note the breakdowns are awe inspiring in most cases. The best examples of this would be “When Silence Breaks”, “Infest” and “Paralyzed”. I am a fan of these good breakdowns but there are so many of them it gets slightly repetitive when listening to the whole album. Some songs have more than one breakdown just keep that in mind. If you want to have the feeling of rage flow through your veins just give this album a spin.
The guitars are especially good to say the least. Depending on what song you listen to dictates the style that this band enhances. “Infest” out of nowhere pulls a finger-tapping solo out of their hind end resulting in the shocked look on my face. I would most closely relate most of the guitar to a younger version of Parkway Drive. This, however, does not mean there isnt room for improvement. The guitar can be slightly boring or nonexistent in tracks like “December”. In the track “Mary” which is an instrumental the musicianship of the guitarist is displayed giving a quick break from the violent breakdowns and fabulous vocals. The guitar can be hit or miss but when it hits; it is out of the park.
The vocals are the thing that really makes this album stand apart from others. When you least expect it there will be singing or intense low growls. The intensity deep growl is something I didn’t expect from a metalcore band such as this one. “Just make this go away” is one of the most memorable screams on this album because of the blend of low and high growls which is nothing short of badass. The clean vocals are decent on this album for one of the reasons that they are not added to bring a cookie-cutter structure to the tracks; which most main-stream music would. When there is the clean vocals they are not terrible but nothing to brag about. This would be one thing that they could improve on for their next album.
To round off this review I saved one of the best things for last which is the drumming. The drumming is great at providing a steady rythmn and can be in most cases a helping hand to a riff or breakdown. There are sections where the drummer knows to play an intense blast beat or a slow calculated beat. I love the drums on this album for the simple fact that the drummer did not try to be too fancy or just being fast for the sake of it. If you listen closely than this will be something you will smile at as well.
Don’t listen to this if:
• You do not like breakdowns
• Metalcore is a no go for you
Listen to this if:
• You fancy breakdowns
• You love breakdowns
• You blow your… top to breakdowns
• You want something fun to rage to
Recommended tracks:
“*When Silence Breaks”, “Infest”, “Paralyzed”, “Story of a Stranger”
