Review Summary: "Misery Escape", by a band known as The Sorrow. You may be enthralled to see what wonderous things hide behind such a mysterious, head-scratching title.
What is the mainstream hardcore scene? The kiddies listen to Pierce the Veil and Parkway Drive. While both bands offer something decent to the music industry, sometimes you must step away from the ubiquitously recommended and praised artists in order to locate a fresh batch of loud, destructive music.
Through desperate searching, I came across The Sorrow. Hailing from Austria, The Sorrow has planted a new album amongst the well-watered hits and media-promoted artists. A brave move, indeed. At first glance, one could assume that this is merely "one more post-hardcore album" to add to the herd. Listen dilligently, for you may be surprised at what fills your ears.
The Sorrow manage to blend a variety of sound into a standard-length release, with everything from melodic breakdowns (such as the breakdown in "A Thin Red Line") to complete rock anthems like "Burial Bridge" and "Prespectives". The vocal "technique" can become a bit monotonous at times, though it is not a deleterious matter. Clean vocals are mixed in at times. We all know that mixtures of screaming and singing are anything but uncommon in post hardcore music. The vocals may become a bit bland (especially with continous listening), however this is no reason to disregard the wonderful work put into this.
Guitar work syncs together very well. The drum work is a bit standard, yet it displays a bit of supremacy from time to time. A few unexpected tempo changes and impressive double bass work is thrown in on occasion. It definitely holds attention. The overall quality of the album is superb. The Sorrow is doing great things for Napalm Records (and vice versa). Producer Toni Meloni did a wonderful job with this. We can see that The Sorrow is a band that is entirely comfortable with what they are doing - they see no need to "screw with their sound" or dabble in overworked experimentation. They thrust an album forward with eleven killer tracks that are guaranteed to keep the listener interested throughout it's entirety.
