Review Summary: Break away from the ties that bind.
Our Waking Hour is a fairly unheard of band out of Texas who admittedly take influence from groups like RED and Linkin Park, and they are currently working on their sophomore outing. Their first record, entitled
Seconds To Save Her, brims with passionate vocals, Drop C# riffs, dramatic lyrics, string orchestras, and a generally epic feel that only occasionally falls off the wagon completely.
“Intro” seems to set the stage for a classic battle between good and evil for the story of the album with some swirling strings, sounds of planes in flight, and some programmed drums. It serves to build up anticipation and get the listener excited and maybe even a little anxious for what’s to come. “Seconds To Save Her” and “Addiction of You” follow and are packed with the aforementioned riffs, more swirling strings, thrashing drums, and the beautifully haunting vocals of Blaine Beckman. Sounded like a mix between Pete Loeffler and Michael Barnes, he will grab your attention and drag you along with him on his journey from darkness to light. The bridge of “Seconds To Save Her” is especially captivating and serves to build up the same nervous anticipation of the album intro, while “Addiction of You” shines due to the soaring chorus, pensive lead guitar line, and softly picked rhythm guitar through the verses. Blaine sounds fantastic once again, a little less angsty and more thoughtful than in the previous track. These two songs are relatively toned down stylistically and it’s not until “Too Late For Sorry” that we are truly thrown in the maelstrom. The guitars growl, soar, and frantically dance while Blaine alternates from his smooth singing voice to a grittier snarl to one of his rare full-on screams, and the tastefully used programming in the second verse is a beautiful touch. “Break Me Down” and “The Secret” follow in similar fashion and are more amped than the opening trio of tracks. “Curtain Call” is a much darker version of “Addiction of You” and succeeds due to the interlocking guitars of the bridge, catchy chorus, and interesting lyrical perspective.
Despite these positive standouts, there are some definite problems. One can’t help but notice on first glance that the record is fifteen songs long, and the last five tracks are pure filler and don’t even need to be there. I don’t have a problem with longer albums as long as they keep me interested and sound good (like RED's
Of Beauty And Rage or Tool's
Aenima) , but it’s easy to get a case of boredom here. Also, “Last Song For You” is basically Three Days Grace’s “Never Too Late” with cheesier vocals and proof that the men of OWH need some work in the ballad department. “Castles Fall” is the heaviest track of the bunch and the riffs through the beginning and darker lyrics seem very promising, until pitchy (IMO) rhythm guitarist and BGV chimes in and just sounds awkward and forced. It’d be one thing if he chimed in once, but he continues to do it and it just sounds more awkward each time.
Lyrically, this is alternative metal, so you’ve probably gathered the gist of it: there is darkness in the world, but hope is never lost. The album seems to be a concept centering around a broken love story specifically, but the lyrics are ambiguous enough (with rare exception) that the listener could tailor it for their own experiences. I’m a sucker for lyrical content such as this, but I know it can turn the casual listener off.
Not a bad effort at all, but this should’ve been trimmed down majorly and the rhythm guitarist needs to work on vocals a little more. If you like modern rock/alternative metal, this is for you and is a fairly impressive effort, but some may still find it a little too formulaic.
