Aiden has recently hit it big with their new album "Nightmare Anatomy" and the single The Last Sunrise, but before all that, there was Our Gangs Dark Oath. OGTO was their Dead Teenager debut, which caught the attention of Victory and got them signed. This cd shows more of their hardcore punk side, while i think NA shows the same but more evolved, and more screamo (screamo = evolved??). If you enjoyed NA, you'll love OGTA. If you hated NA, give this a try anyway. Considering that two of the members of Aiden were still in high school when they recorded this, it's pretty ***in impressive.
Oh yeah, Victory plans on re-releasing this cd in April. Which tracks are on it, dont know yet. This review is for the original. If Victory releases it with bounus tracks or something, i'll review them too and put them on here.
Aiden:
Nick - Bass: Nick took over bass after Wil decided to move from bass to vocals. The bass is pretty good, a few stand out moments but nothing more, nothing less.
Jake D. - Drums: The drums are solid, Jake D. is able to keep a good beat going and is able to keep it simple, but throw in a couple of beats that keep it from boring.
Angel and Jake W. - Guitars: The guitars are what stand out the most. Angel and Jake W. are able to work together very well and get some sweet harmonys going on.
Wil - Vocals: The first time you hear Wil, you'll probably think he sounds kind of whiney, but after listening to it through you realize his vocals put the band together pretty well. He does a good job of singing and screaming, and can write some good lyrics as well.
1. Our Gangs Dark Oath 1:04
An intro to the record, it does a good job of setting the mood. I like the gang shouts, that's another thing you'll notice, there are way more gang shouts on this record than on NA, it's the one thing that really bummed me out when i first listend to NA. "Where are the gang shouts?" i asked myself. Lucky for us, there are more to be had on this record. Anyway, decent intro, leads well into the next song.
2. The Dawn Breaking Tide 2:29
The first real song on OGDO. While not the best song on the record, it's still good. The guitars sound great in the intro and the verse, it shows you what Angel and Jake W. can do together. Wil does a good job of singing and screaming, more singing that screaming on this track though. A meliodic pre-chorus leads into the chorus, where we get both gang shouts and will singing. The guitars in the chorus arent really anything special, on the last chorus however we get a little solo thing, not an actual solo, but one of the guitars breaks away from the chorus chords to do his own thing. A good opening song. 4/5
3. I Set My Friends on Fire 3:06
The single from the record, i guess. It seems to be the most popular song from it, and there's a good reason for that: the song kicks ass. The guitars are heavy, there's a whole lota screaming going on, it's fast paced, it's Aiden. The lyrics are pretty dark, with Wil screaming "I set My friends on fire, well I looked at your grave I do not feel alive/Well I looked at your eyes I do not feel alive/Now I will give up/Now I will give my life". At 1:05 the song slows down a bit, and Wil whispers "tisiv ot ecalp ecin a si lleh, hell is a nice place to visit", right before exploding into about 16 seconds of fast guitar lines, and Wil screaming "well i gave one more time". Then the song slows down at about 1:44 as Wil sings "Let's look the world into the eyes and say just one more time, much less" before the finale which is just pure awesome. A definate download, and one of the best parts of the cd. 5/5
4. Pledge Resistance 2:51
The politcal song of the album (what punk band would be complete?). Aiden pulls this song off pretty well, focusing more on how the kids feel with the corrupt gov't than the gov't itself. It's fast paced with some clever lyrics and sweet riffs. The song heats up at about the 2 minute mark with screaming "(Now)-This-(This)-Pledge-(Pledge) of resistance now wont you". Forget American Idiot, this is where it's at. 4.5/5
5. Bridge of Reason Shore of Faith 3:06
This song is one of my favorites on the cd. The guitars are sweet, you can hear the bass clearly, and Wil's vocals are great. This song is a bit slower at the beginning than the previous songs on the album, but trust me, it's one of the best. It begins with a snippet taken from a movie (dont know which), and the guitars slowly come in. The first verse is will singing, then going into screaming, then singing again, they know when to be hardcore and when to take it easy. The lyrics are also very well written(http://plyrics.com/lyrics/aiden/bridgeofreasonshoreoffaith.html). There are two parts of the song to me, the second part is very fast and punk, and it starts at 2:19, if you want to mosh, that's the time to do it. This song is my personal favorite off the cd, download this. 5/5
6. Life I Left Behind 3:03
This song starts off with a very AFI sounding clean guitar riff. The drums are very soft in the beginning, as are Wil's vocals. At about 1:09, the song gets screamy and heavy, the song changes a lot throughout, but every change flows very well and fits perfectly within the song. It goes from sad to very angry, very well. The song ends with Wil screaming. Another amazing song off the cd. 5/5
7. Looking Glass Eyes 2:45
Starts off with some heavy guitars, then goes into Wil singing with a palm muted guitar, this is the softest part of the song. The chorus is very fast and punk, while Wil sings the verse and sings and screams the chorus. Love the very punk sounding riff at about 1:38. Wil's lyrics are, again, very well written and deep. Wil pulls them off perfectly. At about 1:57, we get a little breakdown with group shouts (yay), which leads into the outro with Wil singing over the group shouts. 4.5/5
8. Fifteen 2:37
This is a great song. The bass stands out a lot, especially with the little bass break in the middle. This is a very punk song, kind of reminds me of something that AFI might have done from T.A.O.D. Once again, loving the group shouts in the chorus. At 1:32, my favorite part comes on: the bass break. The bass riff here is very sweet, and it's good to hear a little Nick in the song. A little breakdown follows the bass break, leading into the outro. 5/5
9. Kid Becomes the Dream 2:24
Starts out with a sweet little guitar solo, then the rest of the instruments kick in, it sounds very low quality at the beginning, but when Wil's scream comes in, the low quality slowly turns into good quality, and the song takes off (it's cool how the song does that). This is a very deep song about someone's (Wil's???) mother dying and how their family is falling apart, and how he has to take responcibility now ("Become The Dream"). There's still the fast paced punk, but there's also the emotion that comes from the song that just makes you go "woah". 4.5/5
10. Cold December 3:27
Cold December starts off pretty slow, with a palm muted guitar and Wil singing. at 58 seconds Wil's voice changes from the soft singing he was doing to his punk voice and the song starts to pick up, as the rest of the instruments slowly come in. The chorus has every instrument going, With Wil singing and some "Ohhhhhhhhh"s in the background (not cheesy ohhhs, but good sounding ohhhs...... listen to the damn song), and it just sounds great. The song gets a bit hardcore after the first chorus, the song picks up, then it's back to the verse. One of the best moments in the song is when Wil sings "From your cold hands and your dead eyes, from your cold HANDS I CRY" (caps = group shout), then it goes into the final chorus and ends with Wil singing "I still remember that cold December". 5/5
11. World by Storm 17:59
Starts off with a snippet from... THE BOONDOCK SAINTS (if you havent seen this movie, rent it NOW), then goes into a prelude to the final song. The guitars are clean, Wil is whispering, a guitar is soloing, then another Boondock Saints snippet and the song begins. Aiden has a habbit of ending their cds with an awesome, scream along to song. NA has See You In Hell... where the song ends with the group shouting "I Will See You In Hell!", live everyone is shouting it. Well, OGDA has this song. It has so much energy at the end that you cant help but want to sing the line "It's in our heads, it's in our hearts, the world by storm" along with the band. Slowly the instruments fade out and all that's left is Aiden group shouting the line. One hell of a way to end their debut album. 5/5
... Well, sort of. There's a hidden track that starts at 8:00 with a piano playing, and at 10:32, it goes in reverse, it's a pretty beautiful sound. I've heard it with guitars before, but not with piano. Very cool. It stops at 12:58, and then more silence up until 15:09, when an acoustic guitar comes in. The guitars sound great. Wil's vocals are like "woah" at first, but then they settle in and the song continues. No screaming, just Wil singing and the acoustic guitars going. Very beautiful song. 4.5/5
There you have it, one hell of a debut album from a band that i think will be huge in a matter of time. If you're a fan of NA, you'll be surpised to hear some of the stuff on this cd, and if you hated NA, you might just like some of the stuff off of here, so give it a try.
Positives:
- The guitars are awesome, Angel and Jake W. work very well together and complement each other very well.
- Each song blends very well together, you never really think to yourself "Oh! They should have done this, it would have sounded much better!"
- The lyrics are really good and well written.
- Considering that two members were still in high school when they recorded this, it's amazing, and much better than many of the radio-friendly punk/hardcore/screamo bands out there.
Negatives:
- Though the bass has its moments, there are some parts you dont really notice it.
- Wil's vocals, for some, may take getting used to.
Must Download:
- I Set My Friends On Fire: It's one of the singles, they had a video for it, it's an awesome song and it's worth hearing.
- Bridge of Reason Shore of Faith: It's one of the songs that made me buy this cd. Just listen to it.
- Fifteen: The only other song that i know of that had a video made for it. The bass break in this is awesome.
- Cold December: Wil's singing in the beginning is great. The song itself goes through many transitions, if you want to hear how well they blend together, listen.
So there's my third review, wayyyyy better than my second one. Tell me what you think, tips, comments, etc. please.
