You know that feeling where you think you have something completely figured out but really you couldn't be more wrong? Example. You will hear song somewhere and the way the music is presented seems extraordinary or mind-blowing? But when you actually listen to what the rest of this band's music doesn't seem all that extraordinary or mind-blowing at all.
I guess this is how some of us look at Circa Survive. Their debut album
Juturna is Anthony Green's attempt at diving into the genre of post-hardcore. What bothers me is that I thought this would be a lot more of a long-lasting record and it wouldn't be so tedious to listen to after the first few times. In my opinion
Juturna was really fresh sounding when I first heard it. It had edge, interesting vocals, and plenty of energy. But the more I heard it the more I realized that it was forced. It's sound is different, but it's so different that it's boring. I feel that Anthony and Co. wanted such a creative and artistic album, but what they really came out with was a bunch of reverb drowned guitars with Anthony Green trying to take the light away from everyone.
The musicianship is above par, I'll admit. The guitars are constantly blending little leads together and aren't strangers to ambient breaks. The bass is fairly solid, but only stands out on few instances. The drumming is actually quite nice as well. They never really let up at all, and for his fills and rhythms..they aren't exactly memorable but are credible. What
Juturna suffers from musically, though, is the fact that the musicians never really do anything spectacular or different from each track. It's the same energetic to ambient thing throughout the whole album.
Vocally, the album suffers a little as well. Anthony has a range not like too many others. His range is pretty damn good, but sometimes the songs sound completely uninspired, almost emotionless. His voice is often hard to digest too. His affect falters after a few listen. If it doesn't come off uninspired on your first listen, maybe what I said will make sense soon enough.
Juturna isn't what I imagined it to be. It's a post-hardcore mess and doesn't really live up to it's initial listen. From it's meaning to it's music it tends to just be unimpressive in the department of creativity. The songs don't differ, they feel as if they are just played in a different fashion or time signature. I really wanted this album to still affect me how it did when I first heard it, but it just doesn't
seem to do that.
Circa Survive: Juturna 3/5
