Review Summary: A little too similar.
Expectations are hard to avoid. You fall in love with an album, become a fanboy (*cough*), and wait a long time to hear some new material. As humans we always set our hopes so high without realizing that so much has failed us in the past. It's normal and eventually we learn to not be overly hopeful. Expectations aside, this album is very good. In comparison to previous work it's solid, but there is something with this record that thwarts it's ability to contend. No, it's not the loss of recent member Casey Cresenzo...well not all that much. His leave has an almost immediate affect with the first listen, and I don't think this album would sound the way it does if he was still present. He is not really missed, though. The Receiving End Of Sirens do quite fine without him. There is still something missing though, but there is no empty space in which Casey should be standing.
Debatable, I know.
But that can be saved for later times.
So what could be missing? I don't think the slight change in musical direction can be it. While exploring new areas of sound they don't really make it all that awkward. The almost beat driven "Swallow People Whole" is done well. With pounding bass lines complimenting the distorted, thumping drum kicks to the overlapping vocals that almost carry the song singlehandedly. Then you have "Pale Blue Dot" which has one of the weirdest beginnings on the whole album with it's almost industrial wall of sound. The instruments are just as consistent as the last album. The guitarists pull off the "let's soak our instruments in effects" much better than some other bands, but I'd rather not beat the same old horse. The atmosphere they create is very effective and the lead guitarist is very respectable in his own department (see the beginning of "Saturnus," which is very reminiscent to Circa Survive). The drumming remains spot on as it did on the last record. "The Crop And The Pest" and "The Salesman, The Husband, The Lover" contain some of the albums best drum work to date. The two remaining vocalist do a great job and picking up the pieces. No song is weak vocally. They intertwine as much as they did before, and they might just do it a bit better.
With all that being said I still haven't really addressed what's missing. This album is pretty mediocre in the end. All the positives can't outshine how overdone it all seems. Every member of this band is respectable in their talents, but it seems that they are trying to be so obscure with everything. From the concept to the immense amount of electronics and effects. It's all just strikes me as an attempt at something epic while keeping the same formula as
Between The Heart And The Synapse which wasn't epic. So what's wrong with that formula?
