Review Summary: Wretched and Divine, The problem is, which word would you use?
So Black Veil Brides is a Rock band from LA who is famous for their distinct appearance(That's dwindled down a lot since "Set the World on Fire) and lyrical structures. Now I'll admit, I liked these guys a lot since I first heard "We Stitch These Wounds" and I fairly enjoyed their sophomore record. But now comes their Highly anticipated new album "Wretched and Divine: The Story of the Wild Ones" The concept record of the band saving the world from some church evildoers. At first, I was excited, what with the band getting their own movie from this, but now that I've listened to this, I bet it's safe to say, My expectations were a little drafted.
So the song kicks off with a intro by Vocalist Andy Biersack, the remaining founding member, called "Exordium", then it kicks off into the song "I am Bulletproof" which is actually a good song. It had good riffing, a fun solo, and Andy's vocals have improved drastically from their last effort. Also he's cut back on the screaming, which is good cause he wasn't too good of a screamer either. The next song is "New Year's Day" which is worse. The song had cheesy lyrics and a boring tone overall. A lot of songs on this album is like that unfortunately. The album shows an overabundance on it's theatrical elements and story telling, rather then song writing. As a result, the album and the band both suffer from that.
Some songs on the other hand, like the aforementioned "I am Bulletproof", "Nobody's Hero", "Resurrect the Sun", and "In the End" and the best songs on the album, being able to stand alone away from both the movie and this album. Give this album a try and these are the songs you'll remember the most. The song's are all catchy in general, but lyrical they are the most clever, unlike songs such as "Done for You" and "Devil's Choir". Also the album has too many interludes, while some are good, others, most notably the F.E.A.R transmissions, are there mainly to carry the story along. While it helps with the story, once you've heard em, you'll skip them every time.
The band on one hand has greatly improved as a unit, but also carry out the same stuff they've been doing. This album is basically a combination of their last two albums. Jake Pitts does his typical Shredding, though he's far improved more then his predicable solos from the last album. Jinxx is able to carry his own weight in this album, Even showing off his fantastic violin skills in "Overture" He's heard quite a lot in this album and it's help add to the albums emotional tone to the album like in songs "Resurrect the Sun" and "Lost it All". Christian "CC" Coma has been doing his thing since he took over from Sandra in 2011. But in this album, I'm disappointed. He showed his talent as a great drummer in the last album, but here, He just follows the band in whatever their doing, not once showing his skills. Even in the battle anthem "Shadows Die" He's just giving the rest of the band something to stand on. It's sad really.
"In The End" however, is one of the best songs from this band period. It's got good riffing, sweet violin pieces from Jinxx, and a great solo from Jake. Andy's song writing has also improved from the last album and it's a hell of a lot better. This is clearly the best song on this album. While other songs fail to live up to it. Like "Days our Numbered" Which is really boring and features and unneeded appearance from The Used's "Bert McCracken". Some songs are strong enough to stand their own ground while others are nothing but boring fodder. It's disappointing really. I'm a bit of a fan of this band. But this album will disappoint anyone expecting a lot.
So "In the End", Wretched and Divine does it's job in telling a fun story and if you're willing, Mind you willing, to stick around for it, I say go for it. It's nothing too shabby or horrible, but it lacks a lot of what could of been. I know a lot of people are gonna hate me or this review mainly cause "We get it, it's sucks" or "BVB sucks, so this review sucks!" but whatever. I did this for fun. I like this album, and I like the band, I'm just saying, give hate where hate is due, and while this album doesn't really deserve hate, it's doesn't deserve love either...
