Review Summary: "Not trying to reinvent the wheel"......again.
Obey the Brave clearly hold their principles close to their heart in an iron grasp. The “Not trying to reinvent the wheel. We keep it simple. We keep it real.” motto they’ve been waving like a battle flag was ingrained in their debut album
Young Blood and on follow-up
Salvation, the band shows no signs of making a change…..in any way, shape, or form. They've shown no progression from their metallic take on melodic hardcore, similar to The Ghost Inside. While the previous release was fun through its blunt simplicity,
Salvation is a retread of an already generic formula and results in a weaker release despite the thin layer of fun to be had.
Opener “Short Fuse” is a tightly compressed take on the band’s formula. It remains firmly grounded in simplistic mosh fare, but kicks off the album with much needed energy. “Raise Your Voice”, the lead single for
Salvation, is where the cracks really start to show, a fact that is particularly telling due to it being only the second song of the record. With the exception of the melodic chorus, the song doesn’t vary nearly enough from the opening track, especially during the opening salvo. A poor start to the album.
For the most part,
Salvation runs at a similar pace and uses the same structures for the entirety of its length. Heavy bottom string riffs reign supreme with occasional flashes of melody in the chorus. The band puts a few shots of adrenaline into their performance, but that energy doesn’t save the album from its shallow construction. Songs like “Lone Wolf” and closer “Brave The Fire” showcase a little more melody that makes those tracks more of entertaining listen. Sadly most of the songs are too generic to remember.
Vocalist Alex Erian(ex-Despised Icon fame) is the standout with his powerful mid-range roar, though this is offset by his lack of variety, cringe worthy tough-guy one liners, and vaguely positive and anthemic choruses. The clean vocals in "Raise Your Voice" is a helpful, but brief change. The instrumentalists generally fail to be noteworthy. The guitars sound heavy, but remain in the lower frequencies with occasional melodic lines that fail to really captivate, and drown out the bass in the process. The drum work sounds powerful, but does little of interest to distinguish itself. The overall product is tragically unremarkable.
Despite the negatives, Obey the Brave’s
Salvation succeeds in escaping the realm of abysmal with flashes of energy and its short length. Anyone looking for a short, heavy, fun time may be able to find something here, but others will be left wanting much more.
