There are few bands that I know of where I have a hugely diverse opinion about them. Senses Fail is one of those bands. Where as I absolutely loathe
From the Depths of Dreams E.P., I really like the debut full-length special edition album
Let it Enfold You. In all departments this is a huge advancement from their E.P. It’s hard to put Senses Fail under a certain genre, in a way I want to call them screamo-pop. My definition of screamo-pop is pop-punk with some screaming and a heavier melodic sound than normal pop-punk.
Buddy’s singing has massively improved since the days of From the Depths of Dreams. He went from being nasal and annoying to having a voice that is actually recognizable. His voice aside from being better is a lot catchier than their previous work. The screaming from both Buddy and bassist Michael Glita isn’t the best, but does still slightly work on this album. The lyrics however are at times jaw-droppingly violent. I honestly think that there is a serial killer inside of Buddy.
Tie Her Down is about making a women believe that he cares for her, but it turns out that all he wants is to kill her because he views her as more important dead. The actual writing of the lyrics is good, a vast improvement over their E.P., but the content matter is rated R and I just don’t understand the point of half the album being about violence and drug abuse.
The guitar work on this album is just fantastic to be honest. One guitar plays some really technical and catchy leads while the other plays chords that are varied instead of one chord being played for about ten seconds. I just love the way they open songs up with the solo guitar before introducing all the instruments together on so many of the songs such as
Lady In A Blue Dress,
Buried A Lie, and personal favorite (lead guitar work only)
Bite To Break Skin. It should be noted that none of the songs have any actual guitar solos in them except for the only original bonus song
American Death, which is just about the closest to a metal song Senses Fail have written. It’s clear that Buddy has improved his screaming voice when comparing it to the rest of the album. This song was written about two years after this actual album was so it is going to be interesting to see if this is the actual direction the band is going musically. There are also three bonus acoustic versions of
Lady in a Blue Dress,
Buried a Lie, and
Rum is for Drinking, Not Burning. It’s interesting to see the guitar parts transferred from electric to acoustic and those three songs actually being my top three favorite of the album this is a very nice plus. However, Buddy’s voice is very irritating on here. Not sure if it for lack of production or the fact these were recorded in the bands touring bus, but the acoustic guitar more than makes up for it. The bass is full of bouncy lines that are audible and even when following one of the guitars can still sometimes be heard. My favorite bass lines on the album are on the songs
Lady in a Blue Dress and
Bite to Break Skin. The drumming is talented and a plentiful of fills are heard on all songs. The actual beats provided are sound somewhat original from each other as well and not just variations of songs.
There aren’t any really weak songs musically or vocally on here I’m happy to say and many songs have their own individuality. The ballad of the album is without a doubt
Buried a Lie which is about the investigation of the death of a women, who Buddy believes was murdered when everyone else believes it is suicide. Musically it is the standard of the album except slightly simpler and vocally it is the catchiest of the album. The dvd that comes with the special edition isn’t to special and only includes three live songs and the two videos off this album. The three live songs,
Bloody Romance,
You’re Cute When You Scream, and
Irony of Dying on Your Birthday, are okay, but when I saw them live, all three were done a lot better. The two videos of
Buried a Lie and
Rum is For Drinking, Not Burning are the highlights of the dvd. All you really need to do is listen to the lyrics of
Buried a Lie to figure what the video is like. The video is done cheaply, but still good nonetheless. As for the other one, they just play at first on a “paper” pirate ship and then you just watch them play for the most part.
Overall, this album is very melodic, catchy, and more technical than your average pop-punk (or whatever you want to call them) band. There are no real weak songs the whole album along with no real cons, except that some might be annoyed by the screaming and then there is the deal with the lyrics. In the end this is indeed an excellent album and worthy of a four out of five. Thanks for reading, I hope that you enjoyed this review and though it was well-written. Thank you for your time.
