Review Summary: A feast for the ears as a whole.
When I listened to this album, and came to learn that a new singer had been inaugurated into the band, I became more engaged in
Haste The Day. I thought of it as a new beginning for the band without their previous singer, whose snake-hissing inhuman screamo I did not care much for. It only created an impediment which I found difficult to obviate, in order to really enjoy the potential that
Haste The Day in their music. The idea of a new singer came as a relief, and it pleasant to hear a more metalcore oriented growl being utilized. However, the voice isn't great, and on the other hand, it makes the music more generic. The clean vocals are simply amazing though, emanating punk and power pop influences. Pressure the Hinges is a message to the world: we're remedied.
The album fades into
Eye of the Needle, a blurry artifact recovered which appears as a repeating recording which had been lost through time. The enchanted melody is inscribed with the words "Wake up now". The background and bubble effect added to this interlude only fortifies the heavenly effect. Hands down, this is one of the best interludes I've heard, as it virtually opens up my mind and induces goosebumps through nostalgia. It then explodes into
Pressure the Hinges, blasting riffs and guitar played in a grinding manner which then presents the mean school-bully voice of Stephen Keech, whose accent is twisted in a subtle yet inexplicable way. It sound unique, but it's not a vocal that accentuates the quality, and it is metalcore after all: if it's not the best of the best, its generic. The chorus is the highlight of the song, and goes for many others, as here we are struck by the beautifully clean vocals, introducing two singers here who sing subsequently (high and then low), which is extremely effective.
We are only given more of the good as
The Minor Prophets sunshines in. The day-in-the-park punchline is simply amazing in all aspects, "Take each other's hands, look into the clouds. Such a beautiful song we sing.", which is only a fraction of the chorus comprised in the song. The clean vocals are exploited laudably here, and make up pretty much the entire song. We can start notice the influence of rock here, as the drums are played with a lack of progressiveness and only establish a layer on which the whole scene is played out. Fans of the more hardcore metal will look unfavorably on this, as they lack the thrashy-ness and explosiveness that is present in other bands. It is worth noting however, that the band excels more in procuring a catchy and groovy song, which is rather great when looked upon as an entirety. The guitars are not bad as well, they create a twisted melody which is not infringed upon by riffs, in the sense that they are manipulated to form a grinding-like sound, not transitioned by the riffs, but rather by itself in a smooth way.
Other songs like
Janet's Planet are a little chintzy for my taste, mainly also because the name reminds me of a corny teacher back at school. The riffs are perpetual, and let the other elements build up upon it, while vigilantly keeping the initial melody alive and intact despite the noise. Later the albums, songs such as
Stitches and
Vertigo stand out, because of the clean singing among all else, and feature a good manipulation of high guitar sounds and catchy riffs which provide a supplementary melody to the whole groove.
Stitches has a very good chorus, which may either be thought of old-fashioned because of the choir effect, or even more powerful. The drums also appear seem to appear only where they should be, and gradually shadow the rest of the elements.
The album ends on strong terms with "Chorus of Angels", which assembles most of the elements in a conclusive manner; I like to think of it as the remains being jigsawed together. The fact that there was a new singer could've impaired the ability of the band, but, instead it introduced a new rising talent, whose aptitudes seemed to squeeze their way out. The barrier has been lifted,
Haste the Day creates an excellent piece with
Pressure The Hinges, but, the band still has more work to do to become innovative.
Recommended Tracks:
- The Minor Prophets
- The Oracle
- Stitches
- Vertigo
This Message Edited On 05.10.07
