Review Summary: An inconsistent yet hard hitting album from one of the most touching bands in recent years.
Anberlin created a lot of hype for this album. They claimed that it was to be their darkest and edgiest album yet. And in most ways it lived up to exactly what it claimed to be. Anberlin has never been a band that I considered to have grown but has been a band that was always talented and merely went through phases. Blueprints for the Black Market and Never Take Friendship Personally played the edgy rock scene but gave it a sensitive flare. Cities (one of the few 5's in my catalogue) was a rare gem that capitalized on the whole 'emo/post-hardcore' trend brought a lyrical maturity and profound twist to a band that had only proven itself through good rock. New surrender was the band trying to reach a radio friendly level but falling short. So where exactly does this lead this album?
'We Owe this to Ourselves' opens the album with something that sounds more reminencent of a classic rock era song but pulls it off with moderate sucess. The insturments sound great and bring in a good level of 'head bang' that reminds me of Anberlin's old days. Where the song falls short is when Stephen Christian kicks in with his vocals. This is where Dark is the Way, Light is a Place falls short.
Stephen Christian's idea of 'darker and edgier' turned into melodrama as opposed to his original motives. He admittedly sings his heart out into every song but gives to much depth into songs that perhaps didnt need it. His epic high notes and power just seem like a bit much in songs like 'We Owe this to Ourselves' and 'Down' and it songs like 'All We Have' and 'Impossible' just come off as fruity.
I believe that all of this could be the after affect of Christain's solo progect 'Anchor and Braille'. A great album but not Anberlin at all and something that should have stayed away from Anberlin. Christian may have pushed his audience's capacity for sensitivity just a tad to far.
This album is far from bad though as it still landed a 3.5 rating from me. This is in my opinion Anberlin's second best album ever. Songs like 'Pray Tell', 'Closer' and 'You Belong here' are the exactly what Christian was hoping to bring to us. The band is also famous for their epic closer's to their albums. Though no finisher (or song in the general history of music) may ever top 'Fin' from cities, 'Depraved' is an excellent finale to an inconsistent but none the less enjoyable album.
Overall I feel as if I could complain about this album for hours but I would still end off by saying that it is a great album. I say this because while there are many songs that fall short, the songs that are good are amongst the best songs that Anberlin has ever made peroid.
