Review Summary: Behind Crimson Eyes attempt to go more mainstream. With disastrous results.
I’m still trying to work out how Behind Crimson Eyes stopped being relevant. At one point they were at the forefront of post hardcore in Australia; ‘Pavour Nocturnus’ and ‘Prologue’ were among my favourite releases of the year and the full length, ‘A Revelation For Despair’ was the record that really placed them squarely in the eyes of radio and television. It was the refreshing blend of heavy punk and post hardcore, with radio orientated song structures and melodic choruses that gained them their first placement on the ARIA charts, three singles which received high radio rotation station across various stations, such as Triple J, and tours with some of the largest names in the heavy music scene; Bullet For My Valentine, Rage Against The Machine and Iron Maiden just to name a few! This was a band that was going places, and the follow up self-titled record should have only affirmed this position. So what went wrong?
First things first; I’m all for the natural progression of sound within a band. Nobody wants to hear the same record being churned out over and over. That being said, it’s important to retain the elements that make the band what it is, something Behind Crimson Eyes obviously forgot when writing this record. The first thing you’ll notice is the lack of screamed vocals, and indeed the general lack of the heavy sound all together. The post hardcore influence, the catchy guitar licks and diverse drum patterns and fills are completely absent. Well almost. Possibly this was a result of the departure of drummer Cam Gilmour and guitarist Kevin Orr in quick succession. Or perhaps it was pressure from labels to become more radio friendly. Whatever the reason, everything that made this band enjoyable to listen to in the first place is gone. And the result? The best way I can describe this is as a pop punk album that occasionally borders on alternative rock, but without the catchiness or punch that such a style needs. Now I’m not hating on pop punk here; in fact I’m a huge fan of bands like Yellowcard, Sum 41 and There For Tomorrow. But Behind Crimson Eyes seem so out of place in this territory. There’s none of the breakdowns or powerful melodies, as featured in the first two EP’s or any of the interesting timings, melodic guitar riffs from the debut album. It frustrates me to no end; Behind Crimson Eyes proved with their earlier releases you don’t have to write bland pop songs to get noticed, so it’s hard to work out why they’ve gone and done exactly that. The lyrical content has also been toned down. ‘A Revelation with Despair’ dealt with themes such as infidelity and incest, and with song titles such as ‘Dial H For Whore’ and ‘Sex, Lies and Homicide’ I don’t think I need to spell it out any further. Instead these darker tones from their earlier works are noticeably absent; the self-titled seems to deal with more political themes and general concept of love and loss. The vocals from lead singer Josh Stuart are certainly above average, although I do miss the screamed vocals, as they added an extra layer of diversity.
The album does have a few positive moments; the singles come across as a cut above the rest. The aforementioned ‘Addicted’ is one of these; it’s got almost a swing rock feel to it, and an epic guitar solo in the middle. The other, ‘Fighting For Our Lives’, is a pop punk track that the band has managed to get right. It bounces along at a decent pace, has that necessary catchy chorus, harmonies and plenty of muted guitar riffs. In fact I would have been happy to buy just a three track EP; ‘Addicted’, ‘Fighting For Our Lives’ possibly ‘Death From Above’ thrown in, another moderately memorable track. However it’s a bit of stretch to put out an album based on three decent tracks, and as far as album worthy material goes, the rest of this record just seems to be filler. Slower songs like ‘Stay With Me’ and ‘Coming Home’ come across as cheesy rock ballads; recycling the same old chords we’ve heard a thousand times before. On the other hand the faster songs such as ‘This Is Who We Are’ and the pretentiously titled ‘Armaggeddonouttahere’ don’t come across as fast, technical or hard enough to make them an enjoyable listen. It’s all just the same old chords; strummed over and over again, in the same pattern every time. And the further you delve into the album the more it begins to blend together; it’s hard to tell when one song ends and another starts because it all sounds the same. Now although Behind Crimson Eyes predominately played faster, heavier music prior to this release, they still knew how to work a slow song, such as ‘Preface: In Memory Of’ and the tear jerker ‘Destruction Is Incapable of Creation’ on the debut EP. However for this record they seemed to have blended the slow and the fast into the one bland output. Nothing is extremely heavy, nothing is extremely soft; it all just sits in the middle ground of mediocrity.
My best comparison of this album is to Silverstein’s ‘Arrivals and Departures’, for anybody who knows the band. Both bands released a catchy post hardcore / melodic punk record, to great success; Silverstein with “Discovering The Waterfront” and Behind Crimson Eyes with “A Revelation For Despair”. However both tried to create a more mainstream sound with their follow up and both were met with disapproval from fans and critics alike. Silverstein then took the negative feedback on board and went on to write arguably one of the best albums of their career, “A Shipwreck In The Sand”, a return of the band to full force. My only hope is that Behind Crimson Eyes can do the same.
Listen To:
Addicted
Fighting For Our Lives
Death From Above
