Review Summary: A very solid first release.
Feed Her to the Sharks are one of the new metalcore bands to join the crowded genre. Thankfully they aren't here to add to the overflow of ***ty metalcore bands. The Beauty of Falling is a very solid release, especially considering that this is only the band's first record.
This is probably the heaviest metalcore album that I've heard this year, mostly due to the vocal delivery, which seems like it would be more fitting for a deathcore band. That's not to say that they don't work well here, because they do...in fact the harsh vocals are damn near the most enjoyable part of this album. The lead vocalist has two different styles. He has has a very low and insanely powerful growl, as well as a fairly high scream. He really knows how to use both of his ranges and he manages to keep the listener hooked by constantly trading in one scream for the other. It never feels like he uses the same style for too long, so you never get tired of either of them. The lyrics aren't exactly award worthy, but I've heard worse.
The clean vocals are a different story. The first time I heard the clean vocals my reaction was to hurl my shoe at my sound system to make the noise go away. Yes, initially it is THAT bad. As you go through the album you'll realize that the clean vocals really aren't that bad, in fact the guy has a pretty good voice and isn't a half bad singer. The problem is that he sounds completely out of place. When he isn't singing, the listener is being blasted by very impressive and very powerful screams and growls. The lead vocalist is like a nuke, and the clean vocalist is like a hand grenade. They're just too different to sound good together, and it somewhat ruins the flow of some songs.
The guitar work on this album is actually pretty generic. They use typical metalcore riffs and throw in some pretty good melodies. The thing is, these guys know how to use those typical riffs in a way that actually makes them sound interesting. I don't know what it is, but I really enjoyed the guitar work on this album. I know most of it isn't horribly impressive, but it comes off sounding impressive. This may be due to the album's spectacular production quality, or maybe they just know how to make average riffs sound awesome. Whatever the case is, if you turn off your brain and just try to enjoy the guitar playing for what it is, you'll be pleasantly surprised. There are even a few good solos on the album.
The drummer knows what he's doing, but he doesn't do much to make himself stand out. I like a lot of his double bass patterns and some of his fills, but for the most part he just sort of exists. I'm not saying he's bad, but in the future it would be nice to see him come out of his shell and play some material a little more flashy.
There are plenty of breakdowns found throughout this album. Once again the group sticks to something fairly simple, and once again they manage to make simple sound awesome. The good timing and the great production quality make these breakdowns sound absolutely crushing, and fun to listen to.
All of the members of this band show that they are competent in their playing and songwriting, so if they can work on something more creative and original in the future they may be a force to be reckoned with in the metalcore genre.
