Review Summary: This album pretty much is an abandoning of their debut album's style and is more of a glam metal album.
I will always fail to perceive why people hate this band's music, especially when it's mainly the look, the fans or anything outside the music or just because of their debut album. The debut album was more of melodic metalcore with some glam metal influences, but this album moved away from that sound and sounds like glam metal. Andy Biersack doesn't scream on this album, except for a very, very few times. He pretty much sings. The unique thing about Black Veil Brides for a glam metal band is that Andy has really deep vocals and is influenced by the likes of maybe Gene Simmons while most glam metal vocalists like Bret Michaels, Vince Neil, etc have a higher voice. The guitar riffs also play a lot of riffs influenced a lot by heavy metal and hard rock with some pentatonic scales here and there. Jinxx and Jake Pitts are a really good guitar duo, especially during solos where they do some really complex guitar shreds similar to hard rock and heavy metal bands from the 1980s. Here are some tracks off the album:
Fallen Angels: You are going to love this song if you listen to KISS. The chorus is extremely catchy and anthemic and the guitars are full of shredding and glam metal/hard rock riffing. It sounds like an unreleased track from KISS off an album after the 1980s, only with some glam metal characteristics, KISS were only glam metal from 1983-1989.
Rebel Love Song: Some people will say the band aren't glam metal, well they certainly never listened to this song. It sounds like an unreleased track from bands like Poison, Mötley Crüe or Quiet Riot. It has some really upbeat and joyful, yet really romantic melodies and even the music video totally looks like an 80s glam metal music video! If you listen to glam metal, you're going to love this song.
The Legacy: After CC does his drum intro, Ash Purdy goes on with his bass. All of a sudden, the guitars pop in with their pentatonic rock 'n roll riffing and then the guitars seem to be tuned to drop d. The verses sound a little more modern, which shows how the band will sound more old-school from record to record, slowly dragging the melodic metalcore fans or fans of bands like Escape the Fate, Asking Alexandria, Suicide Silence, etc into the old rock sound. It is also the heaviest song on the album and after the second chorus Andy starts growling. Then suddenly a breakdown that you'd hear from bands like Hatebreed or something pops in. Then the guitar soloing pops in and suddenly the guitar tuning seems to rise.
Savior: This is a beautiful power ballad that sounds like a typical 1980s glam metal band's power ballad. Andy just starts with some passionate singing and the guitars are kind of acoustic. It sounds like an 80s glam ballad until the end, where Andy screams a little.
Youth & Whiskey: Almost as heavy as The Legacy. This song is just a hard rock song with a metalcore breakdown. It is the closest song to their melodic metalcore roots off this album.
Smokes & Mirrors: The intro is the best part of the song! It starts off with some awesome rock 'n roll riffing with a pentatonic melody to it then even a temporary guitar shred comes in. It is another song off this album that represents the entire album next to Rebel Love Song or Love Isn't Always Fair. It may be a bonus track, but it's some of the best this album has to offer.
With this album, Black Veil Brides surly are going to bring back the old-school rock style sometime soon. No wonder many rock legends (Alice Cooper, Dee Snider, Nikki Sixx, Sebastian Bach) are praising them!
