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Review Summary: it’s not enough to break the cloud of mediocrity that hangs over both the album and the band. Digital Summer. They will probably just always be known as “the band with potential that never acted on it.” Because, in truth, that is what they are. On their first album Cause and Effect, Digital Summer played a clichéd but great take on a heavier version of Seether and a more melodic version of Breaking Benjamin. Was it groundbreaking? Nope. Did it leave room for improvement? Yes. Was it terrible? No. Was it enjoyable? Yes, very much so. Indeed, this record left hopes for the band’s second album Counting The Hours, hopes that Summer would improve on their flaws. And, even though Hours started very promisingly and had a slight change of sound with more melody, by the end of the album, Digital was right back where they had started. So, how does Breaking Point, the band’s third release, do?
The answer: average as all get out. The album as a whole mixes the band’s heavy edge from Cause and melodic edge from Hours, but it comes off sounding exactly like both albums. Pretty much every song on the album sounds like something that’s been done before, whether it be done by Digital Summer or another band. While the band’s experimentation with guitar solos grows with new lead guitarist Jon Stephenson, it’s not enough to break the cloud of mediocrity that hangs over both the album and the band.
However, while it’s all been done before, Digital still has a way of just barely pulling it off. Take opener Forget You. While it’s primary guitar riff sounds ripped off from Crossfade, the song may be the strongest of the album, mainly due to both the new guitarist and the background screams from Clint Lowery. Fight Till I Fall has a powerful chorus and great guitar parts from both guitarists. Though cliché as heck, Broken Halo is a strong ballad, with slight string influences. Dance in the Fire has some pretty enjoyable mini-solos as well.
Enjoyable mini-solos are one of the album’s only highlights. In 2007, when Digital released their first album, they sounded like a band full of energy and ready to improve. Two years later, they sounded content: they had good energy, but didn’t feel they needed to improve. Now, they sound stubborn: they’ll play what they want, and refuse to improve, even if it’s for their own good. That being said, none of the band members sound bad, but they sound tired and the same. There’s some tracks with great potential, but don’t expect much from Digital next release, because the last time they showed potential, they just degenerated.
Lyrically, they’ve exhausted all their material as well. On Counting the Hours, the band opened the record with more positive lyrics, and at least tried to change it up a little. While dark lyrics are sometimes interesting to dissect, Digital just writes the same ones over and over again. With lines such as “F- you, forget you, goodbye” and “I’m on a downward spiral”, you can tell they’ve run out of ideas. On the first album, this was relatable, now, it just feels contrived.
Well, Digital, I had high expectations for you after hearing Cause and Effect. Instead of getting better, you just degenerated. Once, you were a clichéd hard rock band with a ton of potential. Now, you’re an average, boring hard rock band that once had potential. If you’re looking for a “meh” hard rock release that’s just average, pick this up. If not, avoid Digital Summer’s Breaking Point.
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Album Rating: 2.5
Solid review, metal. Now that I think about it, these guys sound very similar to Earshot (I think they're a bit better than these guys from what I've heard so far though, The Silver Lining is a good album; I really like the songs "Closer" and "Pushing to Shove"). "Come On" is a great song, but "Fight Till I Fall" is easily my favourite song off of this CD, I love songs about fighting, Trapt has one of my favourite songs based around fighting, called "Stand Up", and this song sort of reminded me of that song in terms of its overall pacing and energy. Overall, I don't care much about this album beyond those two songs, I'll possibly give it another shot someday, but your review kind of sold me on the fact that this is just a middle-of-the-road release at best (I gave "Forget You" another listen and was kind of disappointed with looking back on it, doesn't hold up as well as I thought it would). I do, however, respect the fact that they are an independent band who rely on crowd funding to put out albums now, so, for that, I'd give them another shot in the future.
Once more, man, great review, you keep getting better with your writing. Just keeping trying new methods to shake things up; for instance, try using a thesaurus to build-up your vocabulary. Always re-read your articles. Try tweaking reviews 3-5 times before posting, my Project 86 review took me two days to get right, and I still find myself tweaking it from time-to-time, especially since reviews are difficult to get right even after multiple edits. Keep up the good work, man.
| | | Album Rating: 2.5
thank you again,riff, your comments are always much appreciated. I'm now using a thesaurus and spending more time with the actual review, and I tweaked a ton of the last one. But yeah, I really wanted to like this album, as much as I liked Cause and Effect. "Come on" and "Fight til I Fall" are great, "Forget You" isn't awful, but as a whole, this may be their weakest album. They What can't be ignored, though, like you said, is that they are an independent band, so hopefully the next album will be good. And again, thanks for all the help
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