Review Summary: The vocals are good, the guitarists are skilled, the bass plays a decent role in the band, and the drums do what they need to do.
The End of Detroit, a rock band from Wilmington, North Carolina that leans towards the pop and punk side, released their EP entitled
A Magnificent Declaration near the end of 2007. Being unsigned, that have gone on to promote themselves by playing shows and sending their EP to New Bern, North Carolina’s 99.5 The X…It Just Rocks. On Sunday nights at nine, the station holds a Local 99X show that highlights local North Carolina bands. So who and what is The End of Detroit? They are three musicians that are known for their professionalism, versatility, and energetic live shows.
Stephen Gossin (rhythm guitar) is the lead vocalist for The End of Detroit. Stephen shows maturity in his approach and style, which fits the style of music that The End of Detroit is trying to achieve. Stephen does have some range as shown on a couple of tracks, including “
My Strafing Run”. The vocals as a whole are good and pulled off really well. The chorus on "
Declassified Dossier" is catchy; where as, the chorus on "
Your Last Chance" is pulled off well. Stephen holds out a note at the end of "
Declassified Dossier" that should be done more often. Harmonizing vocals are decent but they could have been done better. The best vocal delivery on the album is on “
The Jump”. There is also some nice key work near the end of "
Last Call".
The End of Detroit utilizes two guitars, which presents some great moments, ex. “
The Jump”. There are some good guitar intro riffs, ex “
Last Time I Knew You”; however, some could have been better, ex. "
My Strafing Run" and "
Declassified Dossier". The classic guitar sounding guitar intro on “
Last Call” is done tastefully. While this is a softer band, they do have a solo and some chugging guitars. The lone solo is found on "
My Strafing Run", and is done well. You can hear the chugging riffs on "
Last Time I Knew You" and "
The Jump". Both instances are placed to be the most effective. The guitar lead near the end of “
Last Time I Knew You” is decent while the punk guitar riff is used well on “
7&7”.
Devin Field is the drummer and never really needs or tries to outshine anyone else. On different songs, he displays different parts of his set. On “
My Strafing Run” Devin uses his snare drum the most while on “
The Jump” he displays the cymbals. The drums works well together with the guitars near the end of “
Last Call”. The only track the drums are not up to par is “
I Should Run For Office”, otherwise, the drums are simple but effective. The bass is used slightly better then most bands uses it now-a-days. While the bass does lay out the foundation most of the time it does come out front in the mix in two spots. On “
I Should Run For Office” you can hear the bass under the guitars. The bass player then gets the spotlight all to himself in the middle of “
7&7”.
When a band releases an EP, it is to show the listeners what to expect from the band for their next release. If this EP is any indication of The End of Detroit, then they will have a solid career that may or may not lead to a major record deal. They do have an advantage of being in a city that has a lot of signed acts coming out of it. The vocals are good, the guitarists are skilled, the bass plays a decent role in the band, and the drums do what they need to do. Only the future and next big genre blow-up will tell if this band will get their name out there or if they are bound to the regional scene like so many other bands out there.
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Rating (?/5)
Vocals: 3
Lyrics: 3
Guitars: 3
Bass: 3
Drums: 3
Production: 3
Creativity: 3
Lasting Value: 4
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