Review Summary: Digital summer is a hard rock/post-grunge band with alt-metal leanings. They are from Arizona, and bring to mind contemporaries such as Seether, Chevelle, and a heavier Nickelback. While they are nothing special, they aren’t just another radio rock band
Digital summer is a hard rock/post-grunge band with alt-metal leanings. They are from Arizona, and bring to mind contemporaries such as Seether, Chevelle, and a heavier Nickelback. While they are nothing special, they aren’t just another radio rock band, and do a decent job proving themselves on this debut record.
Digital Summer (circa 2007)
Kyle Winterstein- Vocals
Ian Winterstein- Guitar
Anthony Hernandez- Bass
Chris Carlson- Drums
The album has three types of tracks: hard rockers, mid-tempo rockers, and ballads. Let’s start with the hard rockers. Opener “Disconnect” is a good track that meets all the necessary requirements: gruff vocals, heavy, down-tuned guitar, and dark lyrics. Digital Summer is more than comfortable with this sound, and plays it well. Kyle has the perfect hard rock voice, sounding like both Sully Erna and Shaun Morgan. Ian plays some pretty good riffs as well. What slightly separates this band from bands like Godsmack and Seether is the harder edge: Digital Summer is heavier than both bands, and much closer to somebody like Breaking Benjamin. And yes, the band does utilize screamed vocals, and it works for them. However, this formula is also Summer’s downfall: all of the heavy tracks follow the same formula: harder opening, sung verse, sung chorus, sung verse, breakdown, and screams intermittent throughout. Tracks “Suffocate”, “Now or Never”, “Chasing Tomorrow”, and “Whatever It Takes” all follow this formula. That’s not to say they are all bad, both “Now and Never” has both great guitar riffs and a good drum led-opening, while “Chasing Tomorrow” experiments with harmonics. “Whatever It Takes” is angsty as all get out, but angst works for this band. Without a doubt, the heavier tracks are the strongest of the record.
“Crash” is a little bit boring- (due to its generic feel, and bad attempts at soft/loud dynamics), especially following “Disconnect.” However, a great breakdown halfway through keeps it from being totally boring. “Broken” is decent for its guitar riffs, while “Sick Inside” has some great screaming. “Love and Tragedy” is a standout, and experiments a little bit with programming in the verses. It’s a passionate song, for sure. There’s only one ballad, and it’s “Sxxxoxxxe.” It’s the most experimental on the record, with programming and vocal effects. Though Digital Summer is definitely better rocking hard, this is still a good way to end the album. Digital Summer has a lot going for them for sure. They are intense, and though the target of Kyle’s anger is never identified, he makes the anger believable and somewhat relatable. The band is totally guitar-and-vocal dominated. While both the guitarist and vocalist are talented enough to carry the band, it makes you wish for more from Anthony and Chris, whom really take a back seat. However, Digital Summer knows what they are: a simple hard rock band. They do what they do best, they don’t try and do something pretentious (Godsmack with “Generation Day”), and they just rock hard. The hard rock tracks, though, can sound generic and just like eachother after a while. Indeed, replay value isn’t a huge thing for this. Of course, the band does sound just like other bands as well, and Digital sounds somewhat like a Seether and Breaking Benjamin clone.
Lyrically, it’s clichéd stuff, but Summer does a decent job of pulling it off. The name of the game, though, is angst: there’s angst about inner demons and lost love. While they make it a believable, it’s nothing new for the genre. Well, Digital Summer has crafted a flawed but enjoyable hard rock release. If you’re wanting something new and innovative, look elsewhere. However, if you just wanna enjoy some hard rock, pick up this record.
