Review Summary: Fear Before aim high, but poor production drags down what is otherwise a great follow-up to The Always Open Mouth.
In the nearly six year's that have passed since Fear Before released their self-titled album the music landscape has changed drastically. Experimentation runs more rampant than ever. While Fear Before may have been a shapeshifting beast of post-hardcore of the past, their catalogue seems almost tame in comparison to the pantheon of critically acclaimed albums that have come out in the interim between this albums release and this review. When Fear Before changed their name and released their self-titled album the collective sigh of their fanbase could have fueled a wind farm. "Fear Before had changed for the worse." "Their experimentation had gone too far." "They'd lost touch of what made them such a great band in the first place." These sentiments were common and not unfounded in reality. Fear Before had gone too far off the deep end of what most people considered good music at the time.
The album kicks off with force as the intro of 'Treeman' crashes in. Too quickly this is replaced by what will soon become all too familiar to the listener, the questionable choices and more questionable talent of both vocalists. David Marion was never a great lead vocalist, but his contribution on this album are neither dissonant nor harmonic. His screams are almost completely absent from the album, replaced by a soulless monotone singing voice. Adam Fisher on the other hand does what he's always done, providing a chaotic backdrop to support Marion when needed. Fisher screams, shouts, yells, and sings with reckless abandon, his vocals have never been more diverse than on Fear Before. Trade offs, 'harmonies', and singing over each other are common elements found in almost every song and work in Fear Before's favor, letting both vocalists take the pressure off the other when needed. This vocal diversity helps counter the hit and miss lyrics that plague songs like 'Jabberwocky' and 'Treeman', not letting any one line dwell for too long. The issue with all of this, the questionable aspect of these vocals, is whether you will like them. When the album released I myself thought they were very poor, but six years of time with the album has given me an appreciation. This love/hate situation with the vocals will likely influence enjoyment of the music, they are the focal point the album is built on.
With so much emphasis on the vocals it's fortunate that the band has not lost it's knack for writing great music. Songs like 'Fear Before Doesn't Listen to People Who Don't Like Them' and 'Bad Days' build around fantastic drum parts, letting the rhythm section drive the songs forward with creative and catchy drum beats and basslines. Other tracks like 'I'm Fine Today' and 'Get Your Life Together' use a rotation of catchy riffs to make both the verses and choruses get stuck in your head. Bassist Michael Madruga really shines when given the chance though it's a shame his great bass work is often lost in the shuffle. Fear Before really haven't lost a step instrumentally from The Always Open Mouth to their self-titled album which really helps counteract Fear Before's decision to simplify the song structures and homogenize the songs to fit the theme of the album. This too has taken off recently with many bands using this approach to create the best albums of their careers, trimming the fat and leaving the core of what makes that band unique.
It's really unfortunate that both the vocals and the instrumentation becomes almost irrelevant when faced with what must be one of the worst production jobs producer Casey Bates has ever done (this is up there with the worst production I've heard from a major label ever). His work on The Always Open Mouth, Chiodos's Bone Palace Ballet, and The Number 12 Looks Like You's Mongrel serve as examples to his competence and leave no excuses as to why Fear Before is somehow both thin and overly full, distinguishing what the members of this band are doing with their instruments is unnecessarily difficult. This muddled production isn't sure if it wants to be a modern rock album or a hardcore album as it blasts bass during the standard rock choruses and has no power when Fear Before return to their heavier roots. The details of this production are almost impossible to put into coherent thought, they transcend logic and makes you question at times whether this was somehow intentional. Why would Fear Before include a sample at the start of 'Bad Days' if the production was just going to render it's impact uneventful and nearly impossible to hear or decipher? Question's like these haunt the entire album, every song is plagued by production so inconsistent it becomes a difficult listen. It is truly difficult to wade through this mess to get to the meat of the album.
These woes make listening and reviewing this album very difficult. How do you put a number on an album that has great songs if the songs are buried in this much garbage. If you have the willpower you may find the strongest standalone songs Fear Before ever recorded. The term diamond in the rough has never felt more appropriate, there's a great album buried somewhere in here. For me it took six years and the landscape of the genre changing, I only hope that for anyone else that gives this a listen can see it quicker.
