Review Summary: Victory Records and metalcore, it is just about what you would expect...BAD
I swear after almost every show I attend at a DC venue called 930 Club I leave with both hands full. Usually they are holding some band stickers, some CD samplers, and some flyers. Promotion, promotion, promotion indeed is the key to assisting a band in their journey out of the underground. Well on the metro ride home I took a look at a Victory Records sample record I was holding (sensitive subject already). On one side were two bands, one of which looked like So-Cal richboys, another which looked like Davey Havoc flock-a-likes. On the featured side was a band named Endwell, fairly normally dressed surprisingly. Fashion aside, what really caught my eye was the description on the group, “The muscle of Killswitch Engage, the riffs of Atreyu, the power of underOATH.” Enough said, get me a CD player I want to listen! Than reality began to set in…
…I gradually faded back into the now. This is Victory Records talking here, the same label that called The Autumn Offering’s
Embrace the Gutter record “real metal” and Darkest Hour’s
Undoing Ruin CD a “black metal masterpiece.” What optimism I previously had became doubt. By the time I got home I had almost talked myself out of listening to it. But what the heck, it was late, I was bored, and it was free music. The two songs featured on it were surprisingly not too shabby. I was slightly interested, and decided to take a closer look into their album in due time. What was in store was music that certainly fell far short of its descriptions, but was not the absolute worst stuff ever made (thought quite close at times).
Homeland Insecurity is made up of adequate dual vocal styles, heavy and melodic sections, terrible lyrics and plenty of predictable transitions and styles. The grand result is a mediocre, generic filed record with absolutely no replay value.
First impressions were quite deceitful on this record. I recall at first thinking the screaming was acceptable. That did not last very long however. Originally it was obvious the frontman did not have the “power” or “muscle” those silly descriptions said he did. However, a few listens later a different thought arose, he is trying just way too hard. It is one of those hoarse and dull voices all together. Yet one can imagine him really straining to produce it. On the other vocal end, things were a bit different. From the first few listens I enjoyed the singing. It was fairly safe in its usage, not a great range was shown yet it fit the music adequately and was used in careful enough moderation. By the time the record finished, the style was spoiling completely. Yet once more after a few listens another fact was revealed; the singing fits the music perfectly because much similar to the music, it is monotonous in tone.
That should begin to describe the overall sound of the music; generic, repetitive, and just plain forgettable. The overall record itself really offers nothing in terms of originality. In fact the closest they come to original is making the bass audible. To be honest this is a con, as it rarely strays away from root notes and has a flat, lifeless tone much. The tone fits right in with the rest of the music. Right from the first few bars of
“The End” the typical guitar sounds and styles were revealed. Some open chords, some palm muted patterns, and some chugs in a dropped tuning all help contribute to a weak and played out sound. Throughout the first two minutes of the song there is no apparent riff or lead what so ever. In fact it was fairly difficult to tell that there are indeed two guitarists playing. As the song progressed, the new sections in play were very choppy in transition. A sense of flow is never really established throughout the three and a half minute length of the opener. These are indeed patterns that show their face multiple times throughout the record.
The next track
“A Taste Of Everest” contains some good singing, an enjoyable riff over the chorus, and a few too many chugs for my liking. Of course the intro riff sounds despicably boring as does the transition into the chorus. While standard, it at least works which is more than the so called “breakdown” can say. Why they would ruin a cliché yet decent song with some chugs and a standard double bass and crash pattern is beyond me. But than again standard is what they are looking for as following that is the faux emotional clean guitar vocal only section leading into a complete surprising epic final chorus. Wow, that has never been done before! Aside from the nice ending lead on this song and the fitting riff throughout the chorus, this song is a pile of predictable radio friendly metalcore.
Sadly that ends up being one of the highlights on the record. While cliché, the song at least has some enjoyable elements in it, which is more than plenty of the record can say. Right away a sense of typical music was apparent but as
Homeland Insecurity progresses, the listener will be pleading for a cliché song that at very least works. The bad part is it’s not like Endwell is trying to take a diverse path and create something mind blowing, they are just trying to create some heavy songs with some emotional sing a long sections. If not obvious by now they are failing miserably for the most part. The title track continues this trend. It contains some more bland chord progressions right out of the get go until it introduces an enjoyable riff. There is a lot more singing on this track than on others, but the general poppy feel is never really pulled off convincingly. Than of course the breakdown with the shouting vocals is just laugh out loud funny. It seems to be one to make all the “bros” at the hardcore show jump up and chant along with. But as you probably guessed, it ends up disastrous and sounds very out of place.
As the record continues things just get more painful to listen to. Their overall formula becomes extremely predictable and in general nothing significant about the music jumps out. By the time
“Boy Meets World War III” is up their transitions, breakdowns, and progressions are sounding recycled. Hell even the riffs are becoming excessively annoying and predictable. While the song does contain a decent lead at the end, it really does not compromise the awfulness of the previous sections what so ever.
“Whine And Dine” manages to once more show a terrible attempt at a catchy hook. Everyone knows it is coming since the song follows the same format they have been using throughout the album. Things stay at least listenable until the breakdown comes out. The screaming is just downright atrocious at this point and is becoming overly frustrating. So what do they do to end the album in epic fashion? Why open with a 40 second breakdown of course. After all nothing provides a more powerful ender than the vocalist spewing his guts into the microphone over some chugs. That along with more predictable transitions, tasteless progressions, and another excessive breakdown session make up the closing track
“Zombies Never Think Twice” and all contribute to possibly the worst song on the record.
While I figured this would fail to live up to its expectations, this almost rewrites the book on a true tripe of an album. Than again it is Victory Records and a metalcore band and we all know those are two usually do not mix. This is certainly the case here, as
Homeland Insecurity is a prime example of a conventional, bland, monotonous, and forgettable record. By the end of the record their sound is completely spoiled. Sadly, while in certain sections there are some enjoyable aspects such as a riff or lead, no song really sticks out at the end. They all begin to blend together and after a few more listens to the record nothing really changes. The general repetitive and recycled sound of the record makes for an extremely poor replay value. “The muscle of Killswitch Engage, the riffs of Atreyu, the power of underOATH.” Unless Killswitch Engage was on steroids and became banned from them, Atreyu turned into The Autumn Offering, and a teenage rip off act was mistaken for underOATH, that statement is proof as to how full of sh
it Victory’s advertisements are. And to think they had me convinced for a minute or two…HA! At the end of the day, forgettable is a very suitable word to sum up Endwell’s debut album.
Final Rating: 1.5/5
