Whence He Came was started in 1999 by Joshua and Ephraim, two persons with the goal of creating beautiful music. They have gone through many member changes from their original line-up, due to many of their members being students. The members at the time of recording their debut album were:
Vocals, Guitar: Joshua Wong
Guitar, Vocals, Keyboards: Ephraim Bano
Bass, Vocals: Joel Deerwester
Drums: Suhail Stephen
I first heard of this band late 2002, at a rock gig I was able to attend. I was told by my friend that there was a band everyone would rock out to, and Whence He Came certainly lived up to the expectations. Not only that, Joshua got a personality that will make you laugh between every song. I rushed to pick up their CD after the show, and I knew I was going to be in for a good ride.
The CD can basically be divided into two halves, the first half of the CD being more upbeat and the second half of the CD being more ballad like. The first half starts with "The Dream" and the drums just scream out 'take a look at me' through out. Suhail plays very interesting riffs and fills, and his footwork is quite fun to listen to as well. Another thing to listen out to here is the beautiful vocal harmony ('my reverie'), which might remind you of some of the things Jimmy Eat World does. The next song, 'Break Ranks', slows down a bit, just so we can admire the beautiful melodies and the drumming better. The next to songs, 'There's Something To Be Said For Falling' and 'The Trading of Faces' picks up the pace again, and both features solid melodies and harmonies. The songs in this half follow the generic formula of 'Intro-Verse-Chorus-Verse-Chorus-Breakdown-Finale', but I don't think it detracts from enjoying the songs. You could say that it's the trademark of their sound.
The second half of the CD, the more melodical half, features some softer drum playing and even more beautiful harmonies. The bass riffs are definitely more audible in this half, and I think it's only at the track 'Glisten' that you really notice the bass. At this point, I had the urge to start listening again from track one to listen out for the bass lines. 'That We Might See' starts off with a great dual guitar riff, and builds up from there. 'The Sweetest Promising' picks up pace almost up to the level of first half of the CD.
So did Joshua and Ephraim reach there goal? I definitely think so. Lots of intricate harmonies and rhythms definitely makes it an album you must check out.
Overall score: 4/5.
