Review Summary: Are we truly "Living Hell"? No, but that doesn't mean you should put on a jacket. (it's a temperature joke....)
Let me start off with this, I know a lot of my past reviews have been terrible. I plan to do something a little different here, HERE GOES!
We Were Gentlemen, it's a fine interesting name for a band. It's actually that reason why I remembered them, and proceeded to listen to them, and it became apparent that this band is hated. Youtube comments of generic "this band sucks!" were abroad. I wanted to see if it was really THAT bad, surprisingly it isn't that bad, but it isn't anything to talk about either.
The band goes for a slow, down-tuned, metallic hardcore sound, and it really is different from a lot of the more generic metalcore bands out there. It should also be mentioned that ex-Winter Solstice singer fronts this band, which may turn a lot of people off. The vocals take some getting used to, the first couple of listens may turn you away from this music, but if you stay and listen you might actually find something you enjoy.
The album starts out with "Deep Blue" which is honestly not a great song, but it does it's purpose though of opening up the album, and gives you a idea of the sound of this band. Slow, Eerie, and Breakdown heavy. The next song "Night Terrors" has a great opening as it hits you hard and fast, and gives you some great drums. It's actually kinda catchy also, it's one of the better songs offered on this album. "Cradle Your Filth" is probably the most popular of all their songs, as it's one of the few that use clean vocals in the chorus. This is not a bad thing at all cause he uses it without overusing it, but one thing that I must say is it sounds like Slipknot's Corey Taylor. "Illusions" is actually a pretty dull listen the band gives up nothing, but breakdowns on this track, and not in a great way. "Evolve" opens up in a similar way to Cradle Your Filth, but actually throws in more of an Emmure influence on this...for better or worse, it's actually not a bad listen, the guitars deserve a special mention on this track, as it has a very interesting, and brutal riff. "The Insomniac" opens up VERY nicely, the drums come in and set the stage for the equally nice guitars. It should be noted that the singer is trying more of a high-pitched yell on this song, it's different, but certainly not my fancy. "New Blood" again sticks to their mid-tempo breakdown heavy fashion, with a lot of hammer offs thrown in. It sounds similar to the other songs on this track, if you're a hardcore dancer though (i'm not, but if you are) it should be pretty easy to 2-step to this. "Annihilative" is the band trying to be fast, and it doesn't work out too well. However I must say I was surprised to hear the bass for the first time on this album on this song as it's been absent in just about every track. The breakdown at the end of this song is actually pretty brutal. "Bed Ridden" has a nice riff, but fails to capture my interest. The drums again shine on this track, otherwise an easy skippable track. The last song "The Ceremony" has an almost Nu-Metal sound to it, but honestly a very bad way to end this album, as it bored me past the intro.
If you are hankering for a metallic hardcore band that likes to keep an eerie sound, this is an easy choice. The drums and guitars are very nice and set the tone of the band well. The bass is almost non-existant (except for the track Annihilative), and the vocals are stuck on the same tone pretty much throughout. There are some nice breakdowns, and some pretty heavy tunes to hear, but otherwise it gets boring.
Pros-
Nice Guitars
Nice Drums
Nice Intros to almost every song
Occasional Catchiness
Cradle Your Filth
Cons-
This band is going to be hated
A lot of the tracks sound too similar
Nonexistent Bass
Vocals need some work
