Anberlin Dark is the Way, Light is a Place |
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 | Tracklist:
1. We Owe This To Ourselves
2. Impossible
3. Take Me (As You Found Me)
4. Closer
5. You Belong Here
6. Pray Tell
7. Art of War
8. To the Wolves
9. Down
10. Depraved
| Ranking: #136 for 2010 | |
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On 67 Lists
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| Summary: While not the band’s promised magnum opus, Anberlin still delivers an excellent album better than anticipated. |
14 of 14 thought this review was well written
Anberlin is one of the one of those bands I’ve always had a special place in my heart for. The first album I ever bought was they’re debut Blueprints For The Black Market . Cities is one of my favorite alternative albums ever. And while New Surrender wasn’t all that great, it had some awesome tracks and certainly wasn’t a bad album by any means. You can imagine that when I heard the band promising ridiculous things about Dark is the Way Light is a Place, I was instantly excited. The bad news is this not band’s best album. The good news is that, while not being as good as Cities, is still quite a good album.
Anberlin is:
▪ Stephen Christian – lead vocals
▪ Joseph Milligan – lead guitar, backing vocals
▪ Deon Rexroat – bass
▪ Nathan Young – drums
▪ Christian McAlhaney – guitar, backing vocals
The darker dynamic promised by the band is noticeable. The lack of extremely pop-rock tracks is something startling on first listens. And while a large portion of the album is mid-tempo tracks, it rarely descends into acoustic ballad territory like it’s predecessor. The album is very tense, especially in the second half of the record. The album is very epic throughout for an alternative rock record, the most noteworthy track being album closer “Depraved”. While typically following a standard verse-chorus structure, the songs on this album rely on building up to a satisfying conclusion rather than being fun.
Almost every member shows signs of very slight forward progress as musicians. While there are fewer guitar solos than New Surrender, The lead guitar work is still noteworthy throughout, and used as an extremely effective method to further the emotion the track. Stephen Christian’s yell sounds less forced and his cleaner vocals is more melodic and soothing then ever before. The rhythm guitar seems more effective then previous works, rarely relying on standard chord progressions. The area of least progression is the rhythm section. The bass is actually audible on this record, and while rarely doing anything is still nice to hear. The drumming is rather standard, but occasionally shines on tracks such as “Pray Tell” or in his fills.
What makes this album shine brightest however, is not the core instruments, but the very effective layers of effects. The album relies on a surprising amount of ambience, harmonies, overlays, and other various effects very reminiscent of 80’s era U2. Surprisingly, they pull it off very well. These effects never feel overbearing or unnecessary and the record does not feel overly processed. Instead, it helps portray the emotion in which the band was trying to display. As I hinted at above, the engineering is very good. Every instrument is very clearly heard, while never being overbearingly loud in the mix. The effects also never get in the way but help add depth to the sound.
Recommending a couple tracks is difficult, as there is not a single obvious filler track and the quality is very consistently good. I do find myself listening more to the second half of the record however, due to the more noticeable experimentation.
As a final note, my only recommendation is to listen to the stream before you buy or preorder it, as response to the album seems very mixed, people usually either loving it or hating it. While I enjoyed it greatly, others do not seem to think highly of the album.
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| Recent reviews by this author | | | |
Album Rating: 4
So yeah... That's it guys. I'm probably gonna have quite a bit of editing to do but whatever.
| | | Album Rating: 4 | Sound Off
those last three faux paragraphs could be combined or something.
that Anberlin info insert is really distracting and unnecessary.
and the review feels shorter than it looks. you don't go into a great detail on what all the album
encompasses. you talk about it's "best" song and say effective alot but not much else.
Digging: The Weeknd - House of Balloons Digging: The Weeknd - House of Balloons | | | Album Rating: 3.5
You really wanted to be the first didnt you.
Digging: Guns N' Roses - Appetite For Destruction | | | Album Rating: 3.5
First listen this is a 3.25, Ill round up for being a quasi-fanboy.
| | | Album Rating: 4
Well for one, lots of the rhythm guitar IS generic chord progressions, and two, layers is never good. Makes for a good album, makes for poor live performance like 9/10 times. Also as you stated, the lack of up tempo songs is quite disappointing. I will say this is slightly better than New Surrender, due to the lack of filler tracks, but it's still probably a 3/5. Other than things i stated earlier, review was pretty well done especially this quickly. I, too, have been listening to anberlin since blueprints. good job, fr33, good job.
| | | Album Rating: 4.5
This review is spot on. nice work.
| | | Album Rating: 4
To be honest I'm kind of surprised I was the first this.
Anyway, I combined some paragraphs and added a tiny bit more about the tone of the album.
| | | Album Rating: 4.5
I noticed something on the song Down after my 2nd listen of the album, is it me or does that riff through the verses sound like their song The Unwinding Cable Car?
| | | Album Rating: 4 | Sound Off
I've had a copy of this for a week or so and it's excellent. I'll be reviewing it sometime in the near future as it's fresh in my head.
'Pray Tell' is magnificent and Christian sounds mint all over this record.
| | | Album Rating: 4
This is sounding really good. I'm glad they ditched some of the overly poppy stuff that dragged down New Surrender.
Digging: Anathema - We're Here Because We're Here Digging: Anathema - We're Here Because We're Here | | | Album Rating: 3.5 | Sound Off
two, layers is never good. Makes for a good album
well given that this is an album shut up?
also caleb did you just use the word mint?! is this newcastle rubbing off on you?! :D
| | | Album Rating: 3.5
Gonna listen to it later.
| | | Album Rating: 4
@Luke: I think it's not like they totally copied the riff again, but yeah, it is reminiscent.
@Waior: I'm sure you could do a better job reviewing it then me.
I look forward to your review.
@Knot lol
| | | Album Rating: 4 | Sound Off
i do have "interest" in newcastle, so perhaps ;)
| | | Album Rating: 4
Another note on the album: I believe people will enjoy this album as long as they go into it with an open mind, not expecting Cities pt. II but a completely different sound.
| | | Album Rating: 3.5 | Sound Off
this record in my head was the least hyped album in history
| | | Album Rating: 3.5
Money is the Place, Staying Boring is the Way.
Jk. I haven't listened to this completely, but Impossible has me expecting more watered down stuff.
Digging: The Fall of Troy - Doppelganger Digging: The Fall of Troy - Doppelganger | | | Album Rating: 3.5 | Sound Off
I don't agree, but a very well written review nonetheless.
Digging: The Story So Far - Under Soil And Dirt Digging: The Story So Far - Under Soil And Dirt | | |
I want to write a mildly negative review for this but I'm not familiar enough with the band's catalogue to do it
| | | Album Rating: 4
I like the U2 sound on Depraved.
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