Review Summary: This was a rough one.
Being letdown by a product sure does suck. Panoramic, 32 Leaves' sophomore album, is a spectacular endeavor; loaded to the brim with outstanding cuts such as "Protocol", "Human" and "Only Want To Mend". Debut record, Welcome To The Fall, is a face-planting disappointment; featuring a somewhat decent first-half of tracks that keep the train from falling off the rails entirely. To be frank, this was a genuine slog to get through. Panoramic felt way more playful in how the performers executed, whereas this dreck has them come across as robotic as humanly possible. What a shame.
"Sudden Change" is a great opener and sets the stage for, what should have been, an impressive debut from these fellas. Groovy, infectious guitar-work pulsates throughout this uniquely satisfying song that cleverly plays around with pacing. "Blood On My Hands", however, may be the most interesting of the lot; one would have expected there to be a compelling breakdown after the second chorus, yet it instead leads into something that is surprisingly calm (just as it was at the beginning) before blazing back in with the final chorus. Around the mid-point, we get the excellent "Waiting". This is an engaging song, arguably the best of the bunch, thanks to fantastic instrumentals and well-written lyrics that give the track this staggering sense of desperation and intensity throughout (a perfect soundtrack inclusion for destructive racing game FlatOut: Ultimate Carnage).
After "Waiting", the mid-to-later portion of this record, from "Makeshift" to "Watching You Disappear", is a teeth-grinding display in how to overuse distorted vocal effects to near-nauseating result. The overabundance of these tedious effects renders this vocal performance from the typically-talented Norris to be (seemingly) entirely manufactured and (most unforgivably) boring. Album closer, "Deep Breath", seems to be building towards something, but does nothing. This was a sad, lame excuse for a song. Do yourselves a favor: listen to Panoramic instead.
