Review Summary: Black Veil Brides are back with big concept album and their best release to date.
For those of you that don't know, Black Veil Brides is a band that come from Los Angeles, they started off on their first album
We Stitch These Wounds as a metalcore act, they then moved onto a glam metal band for their follow up album
Set the World on Fire. Now as they reach their third album we hear a more mainstream rock sound with some metal influences.
So, what is good about the album? For a starters, as always there is the instrumentation, particularly the guitars, which lay down many very catchy riffs, particularly on songs such as
Shadow's Die and
I am Bulletproof which lays a hard foundation for the songs, and the solos that are featured are also very impressive, with shredding a feature in most of them. The two guitars manage to provide some harmonies that are almost reminiscent of some Avenged Sevenfold, particularly on songs such as
Wretched and Divine . The rest of the instruments are putting on good performances as well, with the drums providing some technical beats that are enjoyable, and the bass, when audible at least, has some moments in the album.
The next positive is one that will be debatable amongst the populace, the vocals, provided by Andy Biersack, they have improved, if anyone was to listen to the first album and then this one it is obvious, the range has improved, the tone has improved and the lyrics have improved, such as:
In The End as you fade into the night
Who will tell the story of your life
And who will remember your last goodbye
Cause its the end
And Im not afraid
I'm not afraid to die
Whilst some people will completely disagree with this, it is, in my opinion a step up from their previous releases. As a vocal performance on the album, they are more diverse, switching between soaring chorus and low solemn sounds as heard on
Lost it All quickly.
However, the album is by no means perfect, there are flaws. For a starter, there are too many interludes, when promised a 19 track album it was disappointing to find that only 13 were real songs, the rest are either spoken words, or in the case of
Overture a violin piece which, while enjoyable the first couple to times heard, will end up been skipped on later listens.
Another issue is lyrics, though, as said before, they have for the most part improved, there are still moments when they are stupid, such as in
New Year's Day:
This is New Year's Day -so rise from the ashes
One final low is the concept, whilst a good idea in theory, the story doesn't come across on the album unless you really REALLY try to piece it together yourself, and even then, it only just makes sense. So for anyone who listens to the album and is unaware, the
F.E.A.R. Transmissions are going to make no sense whatsoever.
So overall, Black Veil Brides have returned with their third album, which is, in my belief their best output to date, and whilst it won't appeal to a large population, for those who have enjoyed any of the bands previous outputs, or are fans of mainstream rock, this is worth a try.
Recommended tracks:
I am Bulletproof
Wretched and Divine
Resurrect the Sun
Shadow's Die
Lost it All
In the End
