Review Summary: A Screamo band takes a cue from all sides, melodic, hard, electronic, and a dash of southern.
Before Their Eyes have released only one prior EP, a self-titled, and it met well with fans. It had everything that could be asked for in a hardcore album, decent vocals, decent drum work, decent guitars, and well, everything was… decent. The band has since taken it up a step, but kept their flair. This album has a broad list of influences, from post-hardcore and rock to metal and southern hardcore. It is a step up, but still seems to come across a little ‘blah’. In short, the album is simply screamo with a dash of southern.
Production was taken up many notches this album, and while it improved the sound of the band greatly, it also makes the singer sound a bit like a robot. The instruments are sharp, defined, and present (Except bass. Bass is pretty much an echo or two when it comes to music these days). The production has occasionally taken the singers voice to a point of near headache-worthy echos and reverb. While ‘Life Was All A Dream’ is definitely one of the top songs, it is a perfect example of the downside of vocal processing. The singers voice has definitely matured on it’s own, although there is less screaming than on the EP. The band still has catchy hooks and choruses, but has seemed to have lost some of their originality. Again, I’d blame this on the processing. The songs seem to follow the same template throughout the album, and while you might be able to take a few songs in one sitting, eventually it all sounds the same. On an interesting note, the EP had a song called, "Why six is afraid of Seven", now the punchline track on this album, "Because 7 ate 9". Clever? Maybe. The pun? Terrible.
While this is a step up in so many ways, it’s also a bit of a disappointment. Production that polished up the album also made it seem generic. While some of the songs are fairly memorable and catchy, in reality, the band has just created another hardcore album.
