Review Summary: Far from an abomination, this album is smart, catchy, and everything similar bands wish they were.
I Am Abomination's debut full-length album "To Our Forefathers" is everything a guilty-pleasure should be - it's fun, it's catchy, and it's highly infectious. However, there are two things that separate this from traditional guilty pleasures - it's smart, and it's actually GOOD! You won't find awful teenage, angst-ridden, heart-broken lyrics on this record, you won't find terribly executed and uneventful breakdowns either. What you will find however, are well-structured songs, great lyrics that actually have quite a bit of depth and intelligence behind them. You'll also find superb musicianship as the band incorporates metalcore-esque guitar riffs and catchy and well-timed synth segments that keep each song fresh and full of energy and heart.
What really drew me in to this was that they were are part of Good Fight, making the likes of Cancer Bats, and This Or The Apocalypse their label-mates. Good Fight typically have their hands in good music (BTBAM, Every Time I Die, August Burns Red) so I figured I had to go out and get my hands on this.
The lead off track "Since 1776" is a great lead in to the whole album. It grabs your attention, and captivates you very nicely. Unfortunately it's the best song on the album, which means what follows may let you down after the intro gets your hopes so high. That's not to say that everything following isn't worth listening to though. You'll find if you start with the second track "Thoughtcrime is Death" that the whole album is actually very good. The only complaint I have throughout is the production, it's slick, but at times can seem over-produced and cheesy, and occassionally the vocals and guitars fuse together and create what I would describe as mixing the color purple with the color orange. However, it's possible to look past these small hang-ups, and they don't detract from the album too much overall.
Every song stands alone very nicely, and has its own style and sound making them all easily recognizable, something a lot of bands seem to forget matters these days. And as a whole this album flows extremely well and is something you can listen to all the way through without having the urge to ever press the skip button. But unfortunately, it can get tiresome after a while (after one or two listens I've generally had my fill of this), which is one major reason I can't give this more than a 3.5.
This album really does have a lot to offer, and although it's not totally free of flaws it is about as good as it gets with pop-core (or whatever CORE you may label this as). It's accessible, it's fun, it's extremely enjoyable. And if you're somebody who really loves what metalcore has to offer but cannot stand the harsh vocals, this is definitely for you. And even if you're a hardcore purist, you can still find plenty of enjoyment with this. Overall, I definitely recommend picking this up, and I can tell you I Am Abomination are definitely a band worth keeping an eye on.
Recommended Tracks:
Since 1776
Rock N No Soul
The Deciever
Greetings From Easter Island
Creatures Of The Night
