Review Summary: metalcore for the few, the proud, the Bros!
Ah breakdowns. A bro's favorite thing as it gives all the bro's in the general vicinity the chance to rage at the world. A world that torments them with music that does not have breakdowns. "Music without breakdowns?" the bro will ask, "there exists such a thing?" and then he will proceed to attempt to windmill kick, two step and whatever else a bro does to remove that blasphemous thought from his mind. Well don't worry bro, although some music DOES exist without breakdowns and chug-chug (see Pink Floyd, etc.) this particular album is chock full of it!!
The album I am referring to is Unbreakable by Solid State Records artist MyChildren MyBride. I first heard this album about a year ago, courtesy of one of my best friends who raved about the "sick guitar work" and crushing breakdowns". Well after listening to Unbreakable I from then on doubted my friends taste in music. So what exactly are my feelings toward this album? Well it is such a great example of generic metalcore that it might even rival Emmure (ok maybe not that bad). There are loads of breakdowns, so many chug chug riffs that I can't even count them all, and of course a song about Halo.
Unbreakable starts out promising, with a nice lead guitar riff right off the bat in Faithless, but then it quickly goes downhill from there. Enter the chug chug chug guitar riffs, and the generic monotone vocalist and you have a snooze of a listen ahead of you. There is so many breakdowns you might have to blink and try to remember that you are not listening to Emmure. Even if you are not put aback by the amount of "crushing" (aka generic) breakdowns, then you will be dismayed by how many of the verses and chorus' of the songs are just simple palm-muted chug riffs. This is only broken up every once in a while when out of the blue a decent lead riff appears to bring the smallest bit off life back into this Frankenstein of an album. After the second song the vocals will begin to grate on the ears of even the most open-minded listener, as they are so monotone and awful that you wonder whether they would be a better instrumental band. Like every other metal band the bass is non-existent, which is fine because the bassist is most likely following the chug chug guitars. The drumming could possibly be a highlight, as the drummer seems to be the most talented member of the band, but his chops are restricted by the chugging guitars which forces him to just use constant double bass and blast beats.
This is a short review, but I do not believe there is much else to say about this band. If your a bro that likes a good cupful of chug chug milk everyday, this album is for you. For anyone else who prefers more technical or interesting music, stay away from this album. Stay far far away.
