Review Summary: It exists.
Black Veil Brides are one of
those bands. You know, the ones you either love at first listen and fanboy over until you’re 27, have a million tattoos splattered across your chest, arms, and wherever else and you start to feel regret for your life choices, or the ones you hate relentlessly until their debut album hits a decade old. At the same time, their success has transcended past other names in the scene. Even
Re-Stitch These Wounds topped the Hard Rock album charts on Billboard not long after its release. Can Memphis May Fire or Sleeping With Sirens say that with their recent work? Likewise,
Set the World on Fire is another one of
those albums. Either you love it or you hate it. There’s not a lot of room for middle ground, but somehow I managed to fall into the middle.
Opener “New Religion” is a highlight, as it actually keeps a consistently energetic pace. Andy Biersack has a commanding presence behind the mic, and the energy that guitarists Jinxx and Jake Pitts bring to the table is relentless. If the rest of the album kept this level of consistency, it’d likely be a lot more worthy of the high praise that its fanboys have cultivated for the album. “Saviour” also comes to mind as a highlight; it honestly gets damn near
beautiful at parts, as the band took a step back from the glam-rock revival tropes and ended up with one of the best-penned tracks of their entire discography. The buildup to the heavier ending is simply spectacular, and it shows that when they try, they can really come up with some solid material.
Unfortunately, as is the case for Black Veil Brides’ discography to date, inconsistency is an issue. Title track “Set the World on Fire” just exists; it’s not commanding despite its attempts, and it comes off like it’s trying
really damn hard to be anthemic. Jinxx and Jake Pitts have some solid guitarwork, and Christian Coma keeps the rhythm going well enough, but there’s just not much going on. It's a glam-rock revival song with an “anthemic” feel. Songs like “God Bless You” (which musically sounds more fitting on a Saliva album than anywhere else), “Youth & Whisky”, and “Rebel Love Song” are similar to the title track in that sense. I’d like to say there’s nothing bad on this album, but that isn’t true; “Fallen Angels” is the poorest possible example they could have chosen to lead up to its release. Not even Jinxx and Jake can save that sh*tfire.
One of the biggest issues on
Set the World on Fire is that some numbers start off strong, like they could easily lead to something more badass, but once they start the first verse, the song hits a wall and doesn’t seem to be able to recover. The biggest example is “The Legacy”, which gets damn near
metal for the first 30 seconds or so, yet shifts all the way down to first gear and doesn’t get out of there until the breakdown. What’s the point of writing a badass intro if next to nothing else in your song can compare? Other songs have this issue, but not to the same degree; “Love Isn’t Always Fair” comes to mind, but at least that one kicks it up a notch with its hook. It’s not “New Religion”, but it’s decent enough as far as that’s concerned.
There’s not a lot to say regarding the lyrical content beyond the fact that it’s standard Black Veil Brides fare; even at their most emotionally impactful, such as on “Saviour”, they don’t quite have the “it” factor that puts them on the level as the best in either the “mall emo” scene or the radio rock scene. I’d sooner listen to Breaking Benjamin or Adam Gontier-era Three Days Grace than Black Veil Brides if I wanted radio rock that has the ability to get me in my feels. A lot of the lyrics on here are as deep as a kiddie pool, but they’re serviceable for radio rock. Look up the lyrics for “Saviour” and maybe “Rebel Love Song”, and you’ve got pretty much the gist of what’s going on here.
Much like with lyrical content, there’s not much that can be said about the production. Ashley Purdy’s bass tone is incredibly plain and doesn’t cut through the mix worth a damn, and it’s no surprise he ended up being buried in the mix knowing what we know now. Other than that, it’s merely standard radio-rock production. It’s just as compressed as any other album circa 2011, and while it’s not criminally overproduced, it’s definitely not a force to be reckoned with production-wise.
Set the World on Fire has solid moments, but it’s nothing special. It’s an inconsistent mixed bag with not much to say beyond what has been said here. Nostalgia may blind you in either direction, but overall, this just...exists. Black Veil Brides have ridden their entire career to an insane wave of success on just existing and writing a few great songs here and there. It’s kind of amazing they’ve lasted this long off writing quality this inconsistent, but alas, they have.
