Review Summary: In The Unlikely Event proves to be an underwhelming, grave disappointment.
The Fall Of Troy are lost.
In The Unlikely Event is the grandest combination of illogical passages and musical unrest. Dating back to their self-titled era, they have always been an extremely technical post-hardcore/progressive band, and in the past, it has worked to their advantage. But now we find The Fall Of Troy hobbling, clawing to the surface for any source of originality within their style, and when they do perk a listener’s attention, they find another way to ruin it. The epic songwriting in
Ghostship Demos/
Phantom Of The Horizon is lost, while the quality
Doppelganger era riffs are recycled. In short, they are stuck in their own musical purgatory.
“Panic Attack” begins rather effectively, poppy hooks without much self-proclaimed wankery and reasonably controlled vocal ranges. Definitely enjoyable from a single standpoint, but it repeats to no end. Does ‘here we go again’ ring a bell to listeners? At any rate, the album demolishes its own reputation with the worst song since “We Better Learn To Hotwire A Uterus,” in “Straight-Jacket Keelhauled.” Combined with adolescent growls and uneasy songwriting; it eventually recovers musically, but then falls flat with a song-ending Guitar Hero solo. This pattern continues with squealing guitar licks, shoddy vocals, and cognitively undemanding lyrics (“Nature Vs. Nurture” and the ‘spoken word’-esque passage among other tracks). Meanwhile, they may not even know what they are doing certain times within
In The Unlikely Event. Take “People and Their Lives,” a track primarily low key and relaxing, which continues as if it accomplished something during the first three minutes and change. It continues into this alternate tangential universe of guitar shredding awkwardness (was the segment between 4:52-5:20 really necessary?).
Yes, at the end of the day
In The Unlikely Event is another slip in The Fall Of Troy’s descent, but it
is listenable and slightly bearable. Some riffs are genuinely interesting, but within the context of the entire picture they fail to make much cohesion with prior segues. Between reused ideas and their inability to improve in any other category makes this album is nothing short of a disappointment. It lacks any defining emotion or identity while trying to be poppy for the sake of being poppy and being technical for the fact of technicality. At this point in their career, The Fall Of Troy need a serious reevaluation of their glaring digression.
is it the fact that they're not as 'heavy' as on their previous efforts? 
