Review Summary: Strike 3! Atavalen you're out, next up to the plate as he readies his bat, Kattunlover69
Someone get Wade out of that friggin' water, or someone will make an album about it or something. Too bad, somebody already did: Circle Takes the Square. Hailing from the home state of crunk and the cake-faced Little Richard, they decided to add some hardcore flavor to the good ol' peach state. This band really needs no intro, I am sure you all heard this band by now, whether you be a hip hop guru or an indie head. This album is constantly praised and I truly don’t see why. Truth is this album is just one big mess.
The composition of the songs is so random and badly transitioned. Just when you think there is going to be a build up, there isn’t, this is where the transition is just poor. For instance, the “Gravity doesn’t grant me the privilege of failure” section in crowquil, it is literally a 180 degree turn within one second from a build up to a quiet section. They constantly make bad transitions throughout the album. While the lyrics are top notch, the vocal placements is poorly thought out. It seems they (both male and female) mainly scream and shriek out the lyrics without any melody over sub-par riffage as their main ability throughout the album while stopping at certain phrases and initiating the enjoyable female-male vocal interplay. While on the vocal topic, they really do sound like a bunch of angry adolescents screaming because mama didn’t give them their ice cream. That is both a good and bad thing, the vocals aren’t flat and they convey a level of emotion, but it isn’t necessarily intelligent sounding if you get my drift.
The instrumental talent on this album is noticeable, but they don’t sync well. The guitarist uses the same basic sound throughout the album and makes it hard to point out notable riffs. He changes riffs way to often to convey the “this is chaos” message but it mostly comes off annoying: He does have some good themes such as simulating that the concept’s protagonist is actually running in “Portrait of Karma”. The drumming on this album complex, but he needs to learn how to go with the crew. Such as the beginning of the “Same Shade as Concrete” he is off doing his own thing making pointless fills and an uncoordinated beat. When there are slow sections, the drums come off impressive since at that time it is the highlight. This album consists of several small diamonds in a giant rough.
If you ask me if I liked a song from this album, it would only be “Interview at the Ruins” because the band works as one cohesive unit and make seamless transitions. This is a sections album more then anything. The songs sound the same (bad transitions, indistinguishable guitar riffs, female and male vocalist racing to see who can spit out the most lyrics within a certain time frame) and when they pull off the atmospheric guitar echoing parts, it is boring more than calming. The guitarist and the drummer need to stop battling each other and play as one cohesive unit for the most part. All I ever ask is for this band to take a clean break before their next outing which, fortunately, they are doing.
