Review Summary:
Rosaline have managed to craft a post-hardcore album that sounds fresh and interesting amidst a sea of boring generic bands.
Post-Hardcore is everywhere. The more concerts you go to, the more generic post-hardcore bands you find. For every unique local band, there are probably 3 generic post-hardcore bands. Because of this, I'm skeptical when listening to any band labeled post-hardcore. There are two ways for said band to catch my ear and make me want to listen to more. Number one is adding something to the mix, and number two is nearly perfecting it.
Rosaline chose to do the latter on The Vitality Theory. There is nothing on this album I haven't heard before, but because Rosaline executes it so well, this album manages to remain interesting and exciting. The guitars are melodic when they need to be, the drummer is great but knows how to hold back so the rest of the band can shine, and both the screaming vocals and the clean vocals sound superb.
This album starts with no holds barred on The Messenger, Infinite; this song showcases everything else that is to come on the album, and is probably one of the best on the album. Listening through the entire album, I can say there are a lot of "wow" moments. That is, there isn't one specific part of a song that you will listen to over and over again, but instead you'll be listening to the entire song over and over again. Each song on this album is pretty unique, but they all manage to blend together quite nicely. It's very impressive how Rosaline manage to blend Face Like Thunder, a very hardcore sounding song, with It's Just Better For Everyone, which is more of a ballad.
Rosaline also chose to throw in an acoustic ballad, very similar to
A Day To Remember's If It Means a Lot to You. If this immediately throws up a warning sign in your mind, have no fear; the song is very well written, and doesn't tarry on for too long. If you enjoyed If It Means a Lot to You, you'll absolutely adore this song.
The lyrics on this album are quite poetic, but nothing special. You probably won't find any philosophers mulling over this bands lyrics for years to come, but at the same time, there are a lot worse lyrics to be found. Some of the lyrical topics are easy to figure out; It's Just Better For Everyone and Repeat After Me! being about relationships, while other songs such as Model Ships still remain a mystery to me.
Rosaline have managed to craft a post-hardcore album that sounds fresh and interesting amidst a sea of boring generic bands. Rosaline have left their mark on the genre with The Vitality Theory, and will most likely continue to do so with future releases, if this album is anything to go by.
