Review Summary: Confide has hit their downfall, 'Recover' is a giant experiment in simplicity and repetivity.
Confide has stepped down from their previous album, “Shout the Truth”. After the release of that album, the band lost 3 members, the bass player, guitarist and drummer. With the reason why they left unknown, the band started right away in trying to re-create their lineup and come back stronger than ever. The biggest improvement in the band is drummer/clean vocalist Joel Piper. Joel has done a lot for the band, and his singing ability was one of the reasons for change in the band’s sound. Instead of going back to the harder style they used in “Shout the Truth”, the band made a bad move and decided to lean more for generic post-hardcore/metal core. Why they did this? I have no idea, but making that move certainly might push away fans of their first album.
‘When Heaven is Silent’ was one of the first songs released before the album, and the change can be heard within the first minute of this song. With the average guitar riffs and simple drum rhythm, the band has stepped down in creativity. It’s a relief though to hear Joel Piper’s singing, because this guy can sing. Every single song on this album uses the same basic format most post-hardcore bands use. They scream the verse, sing the chorus, make a breakdown, repeat. Most of the time, Piper’s parts are the most enjoyable. He can reach some really good pitches and he never fails to impress me. At the end of this song, the breakdown plays and you can’t help but notice the simplicity of it. It’s the same with ’Tighten it Up’, the second song on the album. The band randomly throws the breakdown in the last 20 seconds of the song hoping it gets your attention.
‘Tighten it Up’ is my favorite track on the album, mostly because of the chorus. It’s catchy and I enjoy it with every listen. There is a serious lack of creativity through this album, the band does everything you expect from a repetitive post-hardcore band. There is not a moment on this album that surprised me, it all just felt the same. ’The View From My Eyes’ features a cool little riff in the opening moments of the song, but from then on just becomes worse and worse. I’ve heard so many times that this is the best track on the album, and I can’t figure out why. ’Now or Never’ on the other hand comes out a little stronger than most tracks on the album. It’s the only time through the entire album where I found myself bobbing my head to the breakdown. It’s fast and was thrown in at just the right time.
Confide was never a band that really surprised me with it’s writing, and still it never seems to grab my attention. “And if you know me oh so well/you’d know I haven’t been so well” is a line in ’Now or Never’, and it’s laughable. Most of the writing you’ll find here is just average. ’My Choice or Words’ opens heavy with it’s breakdown, and this leads into a song that actually is done very well. The chorus is somewhat catchy and it’s one of those songs that had potential if it was done a little better. The rest of the album feels more like filler at this point, we just hear the same thing over and over. ‘Barely Breathing’ features some great vocals from the band’s screamer, Ross Kenyon. His screams are really raw and somewhat understandable, but they fit the bands sound so well. There’s nothing to complain about when it comes to him because he’s a good screamer.
“Recover” is one of the biggest disappointments of the year for me so far. To watch this band form into another useless group of receptivity and simplicity is sad. The best part of this album is the two vocalist’s, but even they can’t save this album from falling into the pile of other useless post-hardcore bands out there. What makes a band decide to make this change? It’s a mystery, but Confide really needs to pull themselves together and figure out what they’re doing before everyone starts losing hope in them.
