Review Summary: Disappointingly tampers with one of my favorite formulas, on it's own its still a great, at times brilliant album, but falters in comparison to an album that was brilliant through and through.
The Fall of Troy – Manipulator
Context: Doppelganger is a 4.5
Oft hated and criticized, Manipulator is considered by far Fall of Troy’s worst album. It’s too mainstream, it’s too bland, there aren’t enough fast songs, you can’t hear the other instruments other than Thom’s guitar, it’s this and that, and frankly I am sick of it. I mean, on its own, Manipulator is a great prog-inspired post hardcore effort, and even if it is (I’m starting to say its Phatom… but, what the hey, I could switch either), who cares? It’s still got frantic guitar-driven songs and occasionally the breakdown or two, so it’s still Fall of Troy, and that’s really all that matters.
Many will tell you that the first half of Manipulator is boring, and for the most part, it’s true, but you have to respect their intuition to experiment and still make genuinely good music. “Quarter Past” uses the organ in a soulful and tasteful manner, and because of that, the song stands as the albums ballad. However, the song just doesn’t seem too much like The Fall of Troy for the verses, and more resembling of 70s Prog music than anything Fall of Troy does, and until the chorus you get the taste of Fall of Troy, and even then, it’s sort of bland and uncreative for the band, sounding simplistic compared to regular works. “The Dark Trail” is as close as The Fall of Troy get to hooky radio rock songs, with an exciting hook and high-pitched falsetto vocals. “Semi-Fiction” is a break from some of the boredom going on through the first half, with a climatic chorus and *gasp* audible bass (something surprisingly rare thorough out most of the album), and trademark speed metal/Hot Cross (same band mentioned in every single The Fall of Troy review)-influenced guitar work that has a pep to its step.
Other than these highlights, most of these songs are rather bland and repetitive considering the band, with some songs merely relying on the guitar playing on Thom Erak for a unique persona and difference between other songs. “Cut down All the Trees and Name the Streets after them” is a prime example of this, and could easily be replaced by a Doppelganger song that was probably about fifty times more inspired than said song. “Oh! The Casino!?”, like “The Dark Trail”, is an attempt at accessibility, but unlike that song, fails to hold my attention, and consistently bores with uninteresting riffs and that oh-so-similar song structure that pretty much every mainstream rock song has.
But as soon “Oh! The Casino!?” ends, the album pretty much starts off where Doppelganger left off; fast paced technical fun. “Sledgehammer”, “Seattlantis”, “Ex-Creations” nail The Fall of Troy sound to a T, perfecting and beating even the some of the highlights of Doppelganger. With each of these songs, Thom throws at you each and every crook and nary of everything right about Fall of Troy and fits them into three songs perfectly. The main thing that makes each of these songs so good is the fact that their guitar based, and they don’t try to mess with the formula, because as one wise man somewhere in Texas or where ever said “If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it” .
And that’s really the only problem with Manipulator, it drifts from the formula of The Fall of Troy at times, and frankly it ruins what could have been The Fall of Troy’s best album. Again, I respect their ability and want to experiment, but it’s just wrong when you’ve got a formula that works for the best. Get this album if you really love everything by The Fall of Troy, otherwise, this might be a little disappointing. Otherwise, have fun, there’s going to be plenty of it in your future.
Recommended Tracks:
“Sledgehammer”
“Seattlantis”
“Ex-Creations”
