Review Summary: Gee, where have I heard this before?
I put in my earphones today, as I do most days, and I decided to check out Like Moth to Flames’ new album “An Eye For An Eye”. Now normally I would be fine with the generic chugging that I expected to hear on the opening track ‘You’ll Burn’, but something really got to me this time. Something was different. I was actually angry. Not because of the “angsty” teen lyrics or “heavy” breakdowns, but because I had heard the same opening to a song almost a thousand times before. Devoid of any creativity whatsoever and lacking anything that would make them stand out from their peers, Like Moths to Flames has delivered an album that you have literally heard a thousand times before.
As mentioned before, opener ‘You’ll Burn’ shows you exactly what you’re getting into with this album; chugging beyond comprehension, poppy choruses with forced clean vocals, and mediocre drumming. Oh and you guessed it, inaudible bass. Almost every song follows a similar pattern. This pattern consisting of a chug chug opening, followed by a faster paced verse, which leads right into a poppy chorus, which in turn, is followed by a breakdown. There are few exceptions, including ‘In Dreams’ which begins with an interesting bass line and clean vocals. The whole song ends up being the lightest on the album, featuring no harsh vocals and no breakdowns. What a surprise.
‘Into the Ground’ picks the pattern right back up again and you almost forget that the song before it showed some sort of originality. The generic guitar work on almost every song makes everything blend seamlessly together, and you’re left feeling like you just listened to one 40 minute song. The guitarists are in fact competent musicians, but it almost seems as though they are afraid to step out of their comfort zones 99 percent of the time. They might throw in an interesting riff or somewhat technical sweep here and there, but for the most part, it’s the same old chugs we’ve grown accustomed to from the genre.
Vocally, Like Moths to Flames has never been a very gifted band. Chris Roetter is a very aggressive harsh vocalist, and his screams range from slightly annoying higher pitched shouts, to low, weak sounding growls. His cleans are unbearably forced, and he even seems to be off key in a few of the choruses. Many of the songs on this album would have been passable, had it not been for the clean vocals. They drag down many of the songs, instead of adding a catchy aspect to the music.
Like Moths to Flames has never been a talented band by any means. Hell, they’ve never shown any potential at all and it’s a surprise that I expected anything more from “An Eye For An Eye”. But with this release, Like Moth to Flames have truly shown me the laziness of most modern metalcore acts. With little to no creativity and recycled riffs and breakdowns, this band has shown me that it doesn’t take much to write a metalcore record. Thanks Like Moths to Flames, I’m now completely reevaluating my music taste.
