Review Summary: You know those unshaven fat chicks who show up at parties and try to get laid? This is what would happen if they had kids.
Fact: Phillip Reardon was the best vocalist From First to Last ever had. Fact: Sonny Moore was a horrendous vocalist in regards to technique but somehow fit the music the band made relatively well. Fact: Matt Good always fails at everything he ever attempts to do (this includes standing up whilst urinating).
When From First To Last started out they were more or less the average pop-core band; Thrice-rip off riffs, primarily clean vocals with a few screams thrown about and a nice dose of scene-hair. In that regard the band was a great template for future douche-bands like Escape the Fate and I Am Ghost. Despite being the prime example of bad music, the band weren’t unskilled and slowly it seemed as if they were starting to learn how to write songs.
In 2006, the band released Heroine which was as close as they ever came to moving beyond their generic origins, incorporating interesting riffs, fills and electronics in an attempt to make music that could be listened to as something other than a passing fad. Then Sonny Moore left, to some this was a good thing as they believed his whiny vocals were a detriment to the band but as evidenced by the band’s self-titled album this was not the case. With Moore gone, the band struggled to find their identity and because of this they fell back on their pop-core roots, bringing a nice slab of boring to the table.
Throne To The Wolves (Yes that is seriously the title), is essentially the same thing, however, there are a few additions to the album to try and separate it from their self-titled release. To put it simply the formula for Throne To The Wolves is; Dear Diary+Matt Good’s vocals+Attack Attack. Literally nothing has changed for the band in the six years since the release of their debut album, except that certain popular trends have risen that weren’t around back then.
Matt Good’s vocals are as limited as ever (hence why he should’ve remained a backing vocalist) never moving beyond his comfort zone and containing about as much emotion as one might find in a Pascal multiplication program. Making a return from the Dear Diary days are harsh vocals (although appearing less frequently) and goddamn do they suck; being exactly the same as every generic belch that is so common in today’s pop-core scene. Adding to this is the first dose of the Attack Attack syndrome the band picked up and that’d be a little friend known as auto-tune. Featured in a rather dominant sense in the final two tracks of the album, the use of the effect is a perfect example of just how much the band relies on passing trends instead of having original ideas. Add to this the hilariously lame “Woo’s” featured in the tracks “Cashing Out” and “I’ll Inoculate The World With My Virus Of Dissillusionment” and you’ve got yourself a bucket of laugh-out-loud moments without even touching the instrumental side of the album.
As always Derek Bloom is a big fish in a little pond being the best member without even having to try, his drumming a constant reminder that if they band weren’t plagued with incredibly bad ideas they might actually be capable songwriters. The guitar work has improved slightly but it’s not as if you’re going to find yourself wowed by anything, the bass as always gets to do a big nothing sitting underneath the guitars following them note for note. The other aspect added to the band is the occasional return to the sound they had on Heroine by adding synth lines and electronics throughout the album but much like the rest of the album's “new ideas” they seem more like a gimmick than an actual piece of the music and as such make the listen even less interesting than it already was.
When it comes right down to it, From First To Last is over, it’s time to throw in the towel and stop riding on passing trends in an attempt to remain relevant in today’s scene. This album is the final nail in the band’s coffin, certifying that their time is up. Time to grow up and dust off that McDonald’s uniform boys, your career is over.
