Review Summary: Decent instrumentals are plagued by what is arguably the worst vocal performance I have ever heard.
Gone is Gone are an upcoming rock band hailing out of Hollywood, recently signed to Rise Records. I had never heard of this band or their work until coming across their debut album
Echolocation, which made it all the more surprising to find they had signed to Rise Records. Gone is Gone is unlike any band on the label; not just label veterans like Crown the Empire and Of Mice & Men, but also more recent signees like Chelsea Grin and The Devil Wears Prada. Rise Records isn't the type of label to restrict themselves, but having this group on the roster feels uncomfortably out of place.
Now, that's not the issue as to why
Echolocation gives 2017 a poor push out of the gate, but it is plagued by a similar paradigm; just like the band feels out of place on a label like Rise Records, lead singer Troy Sanders feels out of place with the band itself. Labeled as a mix of alt and hard rock, Gone is Gone brings together members of Queens of the Stone Age, At the Drive-In and Mastodon. Troy Sanders is the vocalist of the latter band, and I do recall him being a much better vocalist there. This new group's solid instrumentals are marred and outweighed by an absolutely cringe-worthy vocal performance by Sanders. It is quite possibly the worst vocal performance I've ever heard.
"Sentient" opens with some haunting ambience and it gets the listener excited for what's to come. At the Drive-In drummer Tony Hajjar puts forth a solid performance and Sanders does execute some audible bass, but his performance behind the microphone is downright terrible, sounding phoned in and lazy. The only vocalist I can think of that sounds remotely similar to this is Black Veil Brides frontman Andy Biersack and if I were Troy Sanders, that would be the last vocalist I'd want to sound like. "Resurge", the third track on the album, opens with a catchy riff from Troy Van Leeuwen of Queens of the Stone Age, but Sanders again spoils the track with an off-key vocal register.
"Ornament" sees some raspier vocals from Sanders but it still sounds tired and trite. This is another example of how the group's instrumentalists put forth the only tangible effort. "Ornament" is one of many atmospheric leaning tracks off of
Echolocation, but the poor vocals take away the enjoyment of the ambience and turns something concrete into something lackluster. Sanders often yells the lyrics, which are run of the mill in the first place. He also does a poor job vocalizing and it often has me deferring to his work with Mastodon in order to find the grittiness I know he's capable of putting forth.
Another problem with this record is the pacing. Most tracks on this album clock in between four and five minutes, with only one track clocking in under three. The album in its entirety is fifty-five minutes long and that's fifty-five minutes too many while trying to tolerate Sanders' horrid vocal performance. "Road" nearly put me to sleep as I listened to it, with the actual instrumentals not kicking in until well after two minutes into the song. "Resolve" sees some more slowed down, mid-tempo instrumentals, with some nice riffage from Van Leeuwen and the title track closes the album with some grit to the instrumentals, but both tracks fall victim to all that preceded them; sloppy vocals that either bore or annoy you.
This album had so much potential to give 2017 a strong start to see Gone is Gone potentially break out. It won't be happening anytime soon, though. Troy Sanders puts forth what is not only the worst vocal performance of his career, but arguably the worst I have ever heard. If these otherwise talented musicians wish to please listeners in the future, I strongly recommend they stick to their established projects. Because this group hasn't a prayer to break out when enjoyable instrumentals are marred by abhorrent vocals. Certainly won't be checking out this band again and it's a damn shame, too. Because
Echolocation had every opportunity under the sun to be a success yet that could very well be why it does anything but succeed.
