Review Summary: Pierce the veil should be proud of this baby, as a first release, they have put a great record out.
I bought this album purely in the spur of the moment, only hearing about one of their songs beforehand. I felt almost foolish as I ripped off the shiny plastic, stopping me from ever getting a refund. The fact they were from Equalvision did encourage me to buy it and thankfully, i decided to give it a listen.
This is an extremely good album, and the first thing I noticed were the amazingly high-pitched vocals and calculated screams of Vic Fuentes. Sometimes predictable screaming can be a bit of a chore, but on this album it's exciting. Although after a while the melody can get slightly nasal, I can forgive him, because there is plenty of talent here.
The second track "Currents Convulsive" gets the party started for me, it shows that this album clearly fuelled by rock and roll and tinged with pop-punk elements. It, for me, sold the whole album and it is perfectly arranged, with great 'dancey' bits. Drummer Mike Fueutes does a lot of the work in keeping most of the songs together, and the switch from vocals to screams fits in perfectly throughout the whole record.
I wasnt amazingly pleased with the lyricism in 'Yeah Boy and Doll Face", to rhyme "said" with "bed" isnt a great achievement. Though I do like the way many of the lyrics are written, especially in ironically titled "I'd Rather Die Than Be Famous", with quite a lot of dialogue.
This band, musically is quite good, they make interesting music to listen to. Songs like "She Sings In The Morning" and "Drella" are where they are at their strongest. They just let loose with everything, and fuse many areas of music such as hardcore with pop-punk and rock and roll. It took me a while to appreciate the last songs on the record because i was so hung up on the first half, but when i got round to them i was pleased.
The first release from this four-piece band is a great solid record with hints of hardcore screaming and pop-punk melodies. And although i needed a couple of listens to truly admire it as a whole, this brilliantly produced album is definitely worth a purchase
