Review Summary: Well it's not as bad as Woe, Is Me...
When Tyler Carter, Michael Bohn, and Cory and Ben Ferris had announced that they were starting a new project, myself, as well as many others were thinking, "Great, Woe, Is Me part II". But little did we know, that this new project (Issues as we now know it) would be nothing like Woe, Is Me. Instead, Issues would decide to be some sort of R&B/Metalcore hybrid. Tyler Carter, as well as the other members, clearly wanted to try something new with this EP by adding R&B/Hip-Hop beats to the music and the addition of some strange rap parts which feel completely out of place with the common chugging of the guitars. They took a risk with this EP... and most of you are probably thinking, did it work?
Well, for the most part, no. This EP is all over the place. At one point you have standard metalcore chugging and breakdowns(2:00 on Princeton Ave) and then you have these awkward R&B dance sections(2:20 on Princeton Ave). It's almost as if these guys were jamming to Chris Brown when they were writing one part of a song, and then listening to Rise Records whole roster for the other parts. It just feels sloppy. It's hard to get into any songs because the style changes so frequently. The guitars never do anything interesting either. It's just chug-chug-chug, breakdown, chorus, chug-chug-chug, breakdown. So, in the metalcore aspect, musically this EP is nothing new. But with the inclusion of R&B it sure is... different.
Vocally, this EP is pretty solid. Tyler Carter's soaring, soulful cleans seem to carry most of the tracks. Even if his voice seems weaker than what it was with Woe Is Me, it's still strong nonetheless. Michael Bohn's screams are powerful and they definitely complement Tyler's voice nicely. The lyrics are pretty standard for the genre, angry. Especially on the laughable atrocity that is King of Amarillo. Princeton Ave sings about the touchy subject of domestic abuse, while Love Sex Riot talks about... well, take a guess. The problems I have with the vocals aren't the lyrics or the two vocalists mentioned above. The problems I have are with the one unwelcome guest on this EP. Chris Fronzak of Attila. For most of you who don't who this man is, let me just say one thing. He raps while screaming. That should already give you a sense of how god-awful his performance on the already weak track, Love Sex Riot is.
Overall, this EP is nothing special. It's fun, catchy, and sometimes even uncomfortable. Don't listen to this with the hopes of finding deep and meaningful metalcore, cause that's not what this is at all. It's good at some points and awful at others. But hey, if you don't like it, go listen to Genesi[s].
