Review Summary: Here I Come Rising to Super Stardom...
Synthesizer, heavy metal guitar, frantic drumming, pounding bass, melodic vocals, and harsh screaming and growling. The listener may have just unwittingly stumbled upon a new sub-genre of heavy metal and its solitary representative. The genre is hugcore. And if the listener has stumbled upon hugcore, that means he/she has stumbled upon the one and only hugcore band, Here I Come Falling. This makes more sense when the listener realizes that Here I Come Falling recently released (on January 8, 2008) their debut album entitled Oh Grave, Where Is Thy Victory on Rise Records.
I should probably start this one off by saying that I am slightly biased about this band because I have seen them live on a number of occasions. But do not think that means I will hesitate to provide some constructive criticism of the album.
The thing I first noticed upon listening to this album was the use of melodic vocals and synthesizer/keyboard parts to really drive home the calmer parts. The inclusion of sing-along choruses alongside screamed verses is not a new concept. In this respect, Here I Come Falling comes off sounding a little bit like its contemporaries.
However, the band members successfully combine technical ability, pop sensibility, harsh screaming, and melody in a way that seems fresh. The passionate delivery by both vocalists in the band is of note on this record. Also, the lyrics are, overall, very impressive. It is fairly apparent by reading the lyrics that the band is a no-holds barred Christian band. This only seems to make the lyrics more powerful.
Some of the newer songs written for this album come off sounding a little bit repetitive. But the older songs really stand to show the band members’ abilities as songwriters when they do not have a record label breathing down their necks (in songs like “There’s A Lion On The Loose”). The inclusion of a softer, piano based song (“And We’ll Be With The Lord Forever”) is a nice breath of fresh, breakdown free air between the face pummeling guitar riffs of “Like Sheep Among Wolves” and “The Beast From The East.”
My only other complaint with this album is the production quality on some of the screamed vocals. Presumably because of the low budget, some of the vocals sound like they were recorded while the vocalist was in a box. This is, however, a small complaint to give an overall very solid and extremely impressive debut album.
As the band rises in popularity, maybe it’ll stretch out a little better on the next album. There is definitely potential for greatness. Until then, Here I Come Falling is certainly a band to check out for melodic vocals and punishing breakdowns. So, pick up the record and put on your moshing shoes.
Songs to Download:
“A Ghost Town For A Graveyard”
“There’s a Lion On The Loose”
“The Beast From The East”
