Review Summary: A band with good potential falls short and makes an album that comes off as repetitive and a lackluster.
Woe, Is Me came into the scene in 2009, formed by members of a few local metal core bands who decided to join forces and create music that'd rock everyone's socks off in the years to come... or at least some random scene kid's socks off anyway.
This post-hardcore/metal core band released their debut record Number[s] in the middle of 2010 under Rise Records. Fast-forward to 2013 of September, the band disbanded with an additional album and EP under the Woe, Is Me moniker with a completely different line-up, consisting of only two of the original seven members that were associated with the band's inception in 2009. While Number[s] is their début record from the post-hardcore/metal core band, it's definitely their best one compared to their last two releases. But how good is the record per se?
The album starts off with On Veiled Men, a short track shy of the one-minute mark. The track doesn't offer much - It starts off with some obnoxious effects and eventually builds up into a breakdown; some br00tal chuggin' and harmonized screams come soaring in, eventually building up into the next track with a gap-less transition once it's done. While the track doesn't offer anything significant, it presents a common aspect that becomes apparent throughout the album - Michael Bohn being accompanied by Ben Ferris, their keyboard player, and his growls, which gives Bohn's screams more depth and comes out as one of the better things off the record.
[&] Delinquents follows up next, and essentially spoils you most of what the record will be like: Austin's drumming eventually drags on and bores you while providing the occassional OK drum fill; Tyler Carter doesn't offer much variety with his vocals, with some exceptions like For The Likes Of You and Desolate [The Conductor]; the album consists of a good amount of chugging, and there's a couple of breakdowns that'll kill the mood of a song, like the end of both tracks I and Desolate [The Conductor]. Tim Sherrill also provides some nice guitar melodies throughout the record; however, they're scarce and he chugs/plays riffs that get buried under the vocals, drums and any electronic effects that linger about in a song.
While the record lacks having your typical 3-chorus song structure on every track, it doesn't do the tracks justice; some transitions can feel awkward and tends not to clash well, feeling messy all-around. The record also lacks memorability and catchiness, but it does have a couple moments of interest, like the chilling bridge in the track I, and the breakdowns/bridge in Mannequin Religion, which I could find myself jumping around my room to (though not for long).
The lyrics on the record are okay - The record isn't a conceptual record, but the lyrics themselves aren't straightforward; however, they either come out as being decent, boring, or pretentious (i.e.: "This is how we close the show/So sit back and listen/Cause it's not over yet/You think you know us/Well you don't know ***" or "Never speak to me/Like you are some kind of hidden prodigy/You're wasting your time/You will never make it in this world/It's all in your mind"). One sentence of lyrics I'd consider good would be the lyrics to the opener track ("Murder the man who devoured your God/For these hands like houses/Will protect you from the storm").
The only track that stands out from the rest of the record is Desolate [The Conductor]... generally because it's every the rest of the album isn't until a breakdown drops at the end of the track to finish both the track and the album altogether. It presents Tyler Carter singing over some electronic beats, while Jonny Craig makes an appearance that barely offers anything game-changing (Jonny Craig also makes an appearance on Our Number[s], but his part is hard to make out), but the main highlight on this track is Tyler Carter's vocals, generally because it displays his singing abilities better than the rest of the songs (and those layers of additional vocals make it a tad more interesting).
In conclusion, the record could've been a lot better, but the potential for something killer is untouched and out comes Number[s], which lacks the ability to hook you in like the inseparable bond of a fat person and their daily visit to their local McDonald's.
