Review Summary: The band name describes what this EP has perfectly.
When Woe, Is Me lost nearly the band because of some drama, Tyler Carter stated he was done with the "rock n roll" scene and started up on a solo project. Shortly after he released information that he was talking to the Ferris brothers and Bohn and "we have been talking but we have nothing solid just yet", and then they announced Issues. Most people were in love with Tyler and Bohn along with Cory and Ben Ferris starting something up to create the "real Woe, Is Me" but despite the hype they had, they failed. Miserably.
The title track of the album Black Diamonds is just like any generic band out there, pointless sounds and stupid background vocals that have no relation to what the album is about or what it will lead into, we just are left with random electronics that sound like some techno band. Right after this, we have drama filled "King of Amarillo" which is an indication that this album would become something similar to each other. The dramatic lyrics are ripping on someone in Woe, Is Me who Tyler plainly just doesn't like, and the lyrics sound immature and very uninspired. "Got the swag of a coward and the heart of a nemesis if you don't like these lyrics then go listen to Genesi[s]" Bohn and Tyler said they wouldn't let band drama get in the way of their career yet they started all this drama to get the money and publicity that they wanted. Speaking of this song, it sounds almost identical to something on Genesi[s], with nothing but br00t@1 chugs and breakdowns that sound like something someone new to the genre would write.
The instruments are a huge problem on this EP, they all sound bland and if anything, under produced. They have no real strengths and sound like they were just written on the fly due to the 4 month time they had in studio, which they finished recording in 2 weeks. Coming from the people that inspired Number[s] this was the most generic instrumentation they have could ever possibly release. If Ben or Cory actually had some input, the album would have sounded maybe like what they wanted and didn't fall to just what Tyler wanted(notice the heavy R&B influence")?.
The vocals give this band the 1.5 points it actually deserves, with Tyler's signature voice and Bohn's well known shrieks. A catchy clean hook is found in nearly every song and the bland instruments actually work with Tyler, giving a sort of emotion to it, but not enough to call it great. "Princeton Avenue" and "The Worst In Them" show what Tyler and Bohn could possibly do if they didn't try to sound generic and recreate themselves to what Tyler wanted Woe, Is Me to be. "Love. Sex. Riot" which is quite possibly the worst song on the EP is nothing special at all, and with a vocalist like Fronz(found on everything) you would think it could save them from the already slumped feel of the song.
This band is literally a carbon copy of Genesi[s] with a different name, and slightly different instruments, and both CDs which were overhyped fell into complete failure and ruined the image of what was one good band and what could have been a great new band. While most people will LOVE King of Amarillo and Princeton Avenue(the two singles from the EP) it seems that the second Tyler leaves and starts more drama with this band, this will receive nothing but a listen or two from the scene dream Tyler fangirls